Crossover: Original Version
by AriaRose7
Summary: This is the original post of my story, Crossover. If you are new to the series please disregard this and go the the one titled, Crossover: Another World, which is the same story, just written better.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Everyone in the kingdom of Galatia gathered together in celebration of the birth of Princess Aria. She is the first and only child of King Richard and Queen Gretel. The king and queen have prayed for many years to be blessed with a child and now their wishes have finally been fulfilled. This meant the most grand festival the kingdom has ever seen.

King Richard and Queen Gretel made sure to invite everyone including the elves, the giants, the dwarfs, and the fairies, especially the fairies for they always presented the best gifts for newborn royalty one could possibly imagine. Queen Gretel personally made the invitations for the fairies and made sure that they will receive a special greeting once they arrived. All the fairies were invited, except for one. Myrtle was the only one who did not receive an invitation for she known for giving terrible sometimes even deadly gifts. Fearing for their newborn daughter's safety, the king and queen decided it was best not to invite Myrtle and hoped that she would have no way of discovering the princess's birth. Myrtle lived by herself in a dark tower and rarely made contact with the other fairies so it was unlikely the news would even reach her.

The entire kingdom waited anxiously for the arrival of the good fairies since their attendance is a true honor. Anyone would be quite fortunate to be given a gift by a fairy.

xXx

Adora felt so nervous as she glided behind the other fairies that she could barely feel her legs. This will be the first time she has ever attended a royal newborn's birthday party and expected to present a child of noble birth with a gift. She knew these feelings were completely ludicrous for she is a fairy who possesses magic powers and could give this child anything. Unfortunately for Adora, that only put more pressure on her. She was worried her gift in which she thought of would not be as good as the other fairies's gifts since they were more experienced.

"Have you all thought of your gifts to Princess Aria?" demanded Verna, the head fairy.

Freya, the most eager of them, was the first to respond. "I'm going to give her the gift of beauty, particularly her hair. I want her to be blessed with long golden hair. Oh, and I want her skin to be fair as well and her lips to be rose red. With that, she will be the most beautiful girl in the kingdom in which any prince will be lucky to wed!"

Verna nodded with approval. "Very good, Freya. And what of the rest of you?"

"I will present her with the gift of music. Anyone who hears her playing music will be drawn to it's beautiful tone and with this gift she will be able to impress any prince she desires," replied Thelma more humbly than Freya.

Verna responded, "Just remember, Thelma, to make this gift assist her in finding a prince. That way it will be suitable for a princess."

Adora sighed. All the gifts seemed to focus more on attracting a prince sometime in the future and less on princess herself. Every kingdom in Galatia had either a princess or a prince or both who were destined to be together and would eventually meet, get married and live happily ever after. Sure, every now and then, a princess may eat a poison apple or get locked in a tower with only her long golden hair as a way out but she would eventually get rescued by her prince and live happily ever after. It was all just so predictable.

"Adora! Pay attention." Verna demanded impatiently. "What gift do you plan on bestowing upon the newborn princess?"

"Umm…" Adora hesitated, "I was thinking maybe intelligence."

"Intelligence!" laughed Verna. "What use does a princess have for intelligence? Most princes only care about beauty and some prefer their princesses to be able to play music but none of them care how smart she is."

"I'm sorry, but I thought that these gifts were for the princess, not some prince she may meet one day," snapped Adora before she realized her tone. Verna looked at her in alarm so she then spoke more calmly. "It's not as if she will always be with her prince every moment of the day, especially if he becomes king and has to run the kingdom. Maybe the princess may enjoy reading or exploring during her spare time."

"If your concerned about Princess Aria's free time then give her the gift of sewing or needlepoint. Something appropriate for a princess," replied Verna.

"Fine. Sewing it is," Adora agreed though she secretly planned to give her intelligence anyway. Verna would not dare lash out at her during the celebration in front of the king and queen. Adora would just have to face her wrath when they got back home.

When the four fairies arrived at the kingdom gates, they were welcomed with trumpets and fireworks. Everyone within was applauding as loud as they could. The fairies kept their chins up and proceeded straight ahead to the castle, except Adora who lingered slightly behind admiring all the decorations.

As the entered the palace King Richard stood up from his throne. "Welcome Verna, Freya, Thelma! Ah, and I see we have a forth fairy now. Come child, what is your name?"

"Adora," she spoke quietly, suddenly feeling quite shy. "I, uh, just finished training to use my magic so this will be my first time giving a magical gift."

"Wonderful!" King Richard beamed. "Just in time for my daughter's birthday celebration. I hope you all have something lovely to give her!"

"We sure do," Verna replied. "Allow me to give her my gift first if that is as Your Majesty wishes and then my sisters will bestow theirs."

King Richard glanced at his wife and then nodded. "Proceed."

Verna floated up to princess's cradle and lifted her hands over the infant's head. "I give to you, Princess Aria, the gift of poise. Good posture will always be natural for you as it should be for royalty."

Adora rolled her eyes. That was so Verna, giving her the most appropriate, yet dull, gift she could think of. Queen Gretel, on the other hand, seemed quite impressed. She smiled at Verna as she bowed down to Princess Aria and then the king and queen and went back to the other fairies.

Thelma went next. "Princess Aria, I give you the gift of music. May this gift bring you peace and joy."

Verna looked at Thelma sharply. Thelma quickly added, "And may it charm any man who's ears it falls upon."

Once again, Adora's eyes rolled. That last part seemed so unnecessary.

After that it was Freya's turn. "Princess Aria, from me you will have the gift of beauty. Let her hair grow long and luscious, her skin be fair, and her lips be red. With this gift any prince will be lucky to have her."

The king and queen smiled and thanked her her while everyone in the courtroom clapped their hands together, softly. Adora then went up to give the princess her gift. Verna looked at her sharply, but Adora's mind was made up. Princess Aria should have something for herself, not some prince.

"Princess Aria, I will give you…"

Suddenly there was a loud bang as the castle doors bursted wide open and a tall woman dressed in black robes with long dark hair entered the palace, with an evil glare in her eyes. Everyone at once knew who it was but no one dared spoke a word fearing the wrath of Myrtle.

"How come I was not invited to this grand celebration for the newborn princess?" Myrtle demanded. Nobody, not even the king and queen would look her in the eye.

Finally after a few, long, awkward moments the King Richard spoke. "Well, Myrtle, we, umm, were not sure if you, um…" he tried desperately to think of some excuse but nothing came to him.

"Did you think that I would not enjoy celebrating the birth of this lovely princess? Did you not think that I, too, would have something wonderful to offer the princess?" Myrtle gave an evil smile and started to move towards Princess Aria. Adora remained by the cradle and decided that it was best to hold her ground. Unfortunately for her, Myrtle was much more powerful than any other fairy and was easily able to use her magic to get her out of the way.

"Princess Aria, I see you have been given beauty, music, and poise," Myrtle snickered. "Fortunately for me, these foolish fairies did not bother to give you and long and healthy life. I hear by declare, that on the day of Aria's sixteenth birthday she will prick her on a spinning wheel and die. Don't even bother destroying of all the spinning wheels. When the time comes I will personally ensure that the princess is near a spinning wheel and she will indeed prick her finger and die."

The whole courtroom gasped clasping their hands over their mouth in horror. Queen Gretel burst into tears and was through herself into her husband's arms as he tried to console her. Myrtle satisfied with everyone's reactions left the castle, the doors slamming shut behind her.

"What are we going to do?" sobbed the queen. "I can't bear the fact that my own daughter will die when she is only sixteen!"

Adora looked up at the distressed parents of this poor infant child. "I still have not given my gift to the princess."

The king looked down at her, his eyes suddenly hopeful. "Please, dear child, is there any way you can take away this curse so that my daughter can live."

"I'm afraid that I am unable to completely undo Myrtle's magic for she is far more powerful than I, but I can change it." Adora gained more confidence and looked down at the child. "Princess Aria, you will prick your finger on a spinning wheel on your sixteenth birthday. That part I am unable to change. However, you will not die. Instead you will fall into a deep sleep. Only from true love's kiss, will you awaken." Adora looked up at the king and queen. "I'm afraid that is the best I can do for your daughter."

"Thank you, Adora for doing what you could," Verna said proudly. This was the first time Verna seemed truly pleased with something Adora had done. She looked up at the king and queen. "Unfortunately, Myrtle will still come for the princess when she turns sixteen. If you wish for more assurance on preventing this curse it is best that we take her to a place where Myrtle cannot find her until we find a way to permanently put an end to her evil magic."

The queen looked down at Verna, still concerned. "Where can we hide our daughter that Myrtle cannot reach her?"

"I know of one," answered Verna, "but I must speak with you privately. Please follow me."

King Richard and Queen Gretel both followed Verna into a private chamber. The remaining fairies stayed put looking confused. None of them had any idea what sort of place Verna could be talking about and why it had to be kept a secret. They also did not know if Verna wanted them to follow her or not. Verna then looked back at them. "Adora, come with us. Freya and Thelma stay where you are," she instructed.

Adora became even more confused. Why would Verna want her to come and not Freya or Thelma? She quickly went into the chamber and waited for Verna's instructions.

Verna began, "There a another world and I am the only one that knows how to access it. Not even Myrtle knows of its existence. If we take your daughter there, she will be safe from Myrtle."

"How do we get to this other world?" King Harold inquired.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you. The fewer people that know the better. If people were to start constantly traveling between worlds then there will be chaos. Adora will be the one to take her if that is alright with you."

The king and queen looked deeply into each other's eyes before Queen Gretel turned her gaze to Adora and spoke, "Your gift saved our dear Princess Aria's life. I believe you truly care for her and therefore fully trust you with her. Please make sure she is safe."

xXx

Adora held Princess Aria close to her as she followed Verna to the entrance to the other world. Verna then stopped and pointed at a lake and stated, "This is the place. This lake does not appear on any maps and is very difficult to locate. This is the portal to the other world. Now, Adora listen to me carefully. You are to take the princess to the other world and find her a warm, loving family to care for her. Stay close to her, but do not tell her who she really is or show her any magic. The people in this other world do not believe in the existence of magic and the princess will be safer if she does not know the truth. I will come find you when Myrtle is defeated and you will then bring the princess back to her family. Do you understand?"

Adora was overwhelmed by all this information. There were so many questions she had for Verna about what life was like in the other world, but she knew there was no time so she just nodded and carried Princess Aria into the lake. Traveling to the other world was probably the most odd experience Adora had ever had. She was surrounded by water, yet she was not wet and could breath just fine. She felt a sudden pull down like something had grabbed her feet and was then thrusted straight up. She held the child close to her chest tightly assuring her safety and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she realized she was standing in a fountain. This must be the other world, Adora thought to herself. She carefully stepped out of the fountain and began to look around at her new surroundings. The fountain was in a dark, empty building that was locked. Adora used her magic to open the door and went outside.

Adora did not know what to make of this world. There were carriages without horses that moved all by themselves, people wore strange clothing, and there were buildings everywhere. There also seemed to be people everywhere as well. It seemed there were more people on this one road then there were in the entire kingdom of Galatia.

Then Adora remembered her mission. She had to find a family to care for Adora. She then spotted a young man knelt down before a beautiful young woman. He took out a small box and opened it. Inside this box, was a diamond ring. Adora could not hear what they were saying but she saw the woman's eyes light up as the man put the ring on her finger and they embraced each other both smiling. Adora smiled too. This must be what Verna meant about a warm loving family. Adora then prepared a letter for the family and found a basket to place Aria in. When she realized the couple was not yet married she waited until they were officially together and moved into their own house. Adora then place the basket containing the princess and the letter by the doorstep, knocked on the door, and then disappeared.


	2. Chapter 1 1st Day of School

_Chapter 1_

_First Day of School_

"Aria!"

Aria heard her mother's voice calling her name for what seemed like at least five minutes. She knew sooner or later Elizabeth would come upstairs into her room to make sure she was awake. In her household, Aria was pretty well known for over sleeping and not hearing alarms. On weekends, she would usually sleep until at least noon, sometimes even two or three in the afternoon. It wasn't like she stayed up late or anything, she just always would sleep for a long period of time.

"Aria, are you awake?" Elizabeth inquired as she opened the door to check on her daughter. When she saw Aria, she was lying on her stomach, the covers pulled over her head.

"Come on, Aria. You need to get ready for school." Elizabeth sat down on the bed and gently patted Aria's back.

Aria pleaded, "Five more minutes, please? I'm really sleepy."

"Last time we did that, when I came back to wake you up you just asked for an additional five minutes. You keep that up and you will be late for school."

"Fine with me," Aria retorted. "I don't want to go anyway."

Elizabeth looked down at Aria. It was hard to believe she will be turning sixteen years old this year. She had grown up beautifully with her long golden hair and fair skin, neither of which Aria appreciated. "Don't worry. The first year in high school is always the worst. I'm sure this year will be better. Come on, sweetie, lets get up and I'll help you blush your hair."

"I don't see why I can't get it cut," Aria complained. "I'll bet a lot of other girls at school are going to have brand new hairstyles and mine will look exactly the same as it did the year before."

"I've told you before, Aria. Your long hair is what makes you who you are. It's one of your special qualities."

Aria rolled her eyes. _Mothers. _As a little girl, Aria absolutely loved having long hair. It made her feel like a princess in a Disney movie. Now, however, her hair was just another hassle for her to deal with first thing in the morning. She and her mother would spend at least ten minutes every morning trying to get the tangles out. Plus, not one single girl she knew of at school had hair as long as hers. The most recent style is a couple inches past the shoulders with layers. Aria had been asking all summer if she could get her hair cut but her parents refused for some unknown reason. _Oh well, _Aria sighed. She supposed she will just have to deal with it. She really did not feel like starting this argument again with her mother, especially not this early in the morning.

After Aria's hair was finally tangle free, she went down stairs for breakfast. As she entered the kitchen, she saw a newspaper held up with her father's legs popping out from from underneath.

"Well, good morning, sleeping beauty," Ted smiled, lowering the paper, as his daughter entered the kitchen. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, though I would have liked to sleep more," Aria replied while looking in the fridge. When nothing appealed to her, she grabbed a piece of toast.

Elizabeth came in. "Aria, that's not enough. Why don't you let me make you something more satisfying."

"I'm not hungry. Besides, Vanessa will be hear soon. I have to finish getting ready."

Vanessa Cooper was probably the best thing about Sheerwood High. She and Aria had been best friends since before Aria could remember. Vanessa lived right across the street from Aria so they could see each other all the time. Every day, they would walk to school together, which was nice since they usually did not have many classes together.

Aria parents exchanged glances with each other before Elizabeth looked over to Aria and spoke, "Aria, maybe either your father or I should start driving you girls to school this year or at least let us walk with you."

"What? Why?" Aria asked, bewildered. "We always walk to school. Besides I would look like a complete dork if my parents walked me to school. It would just give the other kids another reason to make fun of me."

"Oh, honey. You shouldn't worry about what the other kids think. Your safety is what you should be concerned about."

"You let Vanessa and me walk to school by ourselves last year and we were just fine."

"Yeah, well," Elizabeth exchanged a quick glance with Ted before continuing, "you will be turning sixteen in a couple months and, um, there are people out there who may sometimes come after young girls."

Aria did not know what to even say to her mother. It seemed as if the older she got the more overprotective her parents became. When she was ten, she and Vanessa were aloud to run around the neighborhood without adult supervision as long as it wasn't at night. Besides, it's not like the second she turns sixteen people are going to start coming after her.

"Mom, I promise Vanessa and I will stay together and walk straight to school and then come straight home when classes are over. We'll be fine."

The doorbell rang. Before her parents had a chance to say anything else, Aria yelled bye, grabbed her backpack and ran to the front door. When she opened it, she found Vanessa, beaming, her curly, strawberry blonde hair, bouncing off her shoulders.

"Hey girl! I haven't seen you since you got back from from, California. How was it!" Vanessa greeted.

"Great, come on lets start walking," Aria took hold of Vanessa's arm and pulled to down the sidewalk, walking rapidly until they were a few houses down the street.

"Well, you seem to be anxious to get to school for a change," Vanessa commented. "What up with that?"

"Sorry," Aria released Vanessa's arm. "It's just that my parents insisted on walking with us to school."

"What?" Vanessa looked appalled. "Why would they want to do that?"

"I don't know. They said something about some people might be after girls our age or something like that."

"Ok, why are they suddenly worried about it now and not last year? Its not the crime rate in Norfolk suddenly shot up or anything since last year."

Aria sighed as the girls continued to walk down the street. She honestly had no idea what had gotten in to parents this year all of the sudden. They just seemed to get weirder and weirder every year.

When they got to the end they heard a voice.

"Hey girls!"

They looked and saw that it was Ms. Fleming out in her yard waving. Speaking of weird, Ms. Fleming had to be one of the strangest people Aria has ever met in her entire life. The way she dressed reminded Aria of a gypsy with her long shirts and excessive jewelry. Her hair flaming red went about down to just past her mid-back, almost as long as Aria's. Her house seemed to fit her personality quite well. She had painted all over the bricks so it looked like a piece of abstract artwork. Never the less, Aria still liked her. She remembered how much fun she use to have when Ms. Fleming use to babysit her.

"Hi Ms. Fleming," they replied in unison.

"Are you looking forward to the new school year?"

"Not really," Vanessa responded while Aria just shook her head.

"Oh… come on now. Aren't there like a lot of cute boys? Girls your age should enjoy that."

This time Aria spoke, "Yeah, but none of them are interested in us."

Ms. Fleming just continued to smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure you will find your Prince Charming soon. Well, you girls had better be on your way. You don't want to be late."

When they reached out of earshot from Ms. Fleming Vanessa commented, "That was kind of strange. I mean what she said about finding _Prince Charming_."

Aria didn't really think much on it. Ever since she was a little girl, Ms. Fleming would talk about how one day Aria would find the perfect man, calling him either her true love or Prince Charming. She said it was Aria's destiny. "I'll bet if she went to out school she would see that not one single boy fits the description of a _Prince Charming_."

"Sometimes the way she talks, its like she not even from this world. Don't you think?"

Aria was not really sure what to say. Vanessa was always quick to believe in out there or even supernatural ideas. She was the last person Aria knew that stopped believing in Santa Claus and the Easter bunny. When they were kids, Vanessa would never go out during a full moon because she believed there may be werewolves out there somewhere.

"She definitely stands out here in Nebraska."

Vanessa still looked deep in thought. "Don't you think its weird that she looks the exact same as she did when we were kids. Its like she does not age."

"Maybe she's she's vampire," said Aria jokingly.

Vanessa suddenly realized how ridiculous she sounded. The girls continued to laugh as they walked the rest of the way to school. When they arrived they found, they saw a group of boys standing by the front steps, talking and laughing.

_Oh no, _Aria thought to herself, _not Derek James._ Aria had hoped he'd transfer or get held back or something, anything. Ever since elementary school, Derek had always tormented and made fun of Aria. It was never anything serious. He would just call her names or tug on her long hair, but never too hard, except for once in second grade, he accidentally pulled to hard and made Aria cry. Aria just wished that for once he would just leave her alone.

As Aria quickly walked up the steps, Derek waved to her, "Hey Aria! What did you do over the summer?"

Aria looked at him confused. Was he actually trying to have a real conversation with her? "I went to California with my parents."

Derek laughed, glanced at his best friend, Ian, then said, "Don't people usually get tanner after going to California. You're even paler than I remember you."

"I'm exactly the same," Aria muttered as she and Vanessa moved on into the building.

"Just ignore him," Vanessa consoled. "He's just being a jerk. Besides, its better to use sunblock and protect your skin than wear nothing, try to tan, and then just get burned."

"That's just it, Vanessa. I did not wear any sunblock. I just used sun tan oil and then on the last few days, I didn't even bother with that. Nothing happened. My skin just didn't do anything."

"Well, at least you didn't get burned. There are some people who go out in the sun for like five minutes and turn as red as a tomato," Vanessa stated.

"Yeah, well my skin just never changes. I've looked exactly the same most of my life. The only change is I just grew taller. I'm not allowed to change my hair color or even cut it."

Vanessa thought for a moment. "It's weird that your parent won't let you cut your hair. I mean, I've heard of parents not letting their kids dye their hair, but I've never known anyone's parents to not let them get a simple haircut."

"I swear, my parents seem to get stranger and stranger as time goes on."

"Who's getting stranger?" a voice came from behind them. "You're not talking about behind my back are you?"

"Hey Walter!" the girls greeted their only other friend at Sheerwood, Walter Price.

"Hello, Aria, Vanessa. How was your summer?"

"It was alright," Vanessa answered. "I went to Maine to visit my grandparents and Aria went to California and didn't get a tan."

"Thanks, Vanessa," Aria rolled her eyes. "How about you, Walter?"

"My parents sent me to a study Camp to improve my studying habits. It was actually quite helpful."

Vanessa snorted. "Like you of all people need to go to a study camp! You're already the smartest person in our grade."

"Yes, well, being the smartest student at a mediocre high school is hardly much of an achievement."

"Well then," Vanessa declared. "You'll be able to help us out with our homework even more this year."

"I swear, sometimes I think you two just hang around me for grades. Especially since I only see you at school." Walter smiled as he spoke.

Aria then replied, "Well, you never want to go to the mall or watch chick flicks with us on the weekends."

"That's true. I prefer to use my time more wisely. Such as studying to make good grades, which I advise both of you to do the same."

"Not everyone is a brainiac, Walter, " Vanessa informed. "Some people have a hard time with studying."

"Maybe if I teach you two some of the methods I learned at camp, it will help you improve your grades."

"Yeah maybe," Vanessa sighed. "But I think I'm more of the athletic type. Not the the smart type."

Last year Vanessa played on the girls volleyball team and she was probably one of the strongest players. Aria was sure she would try out for the team again this year. As for Aria, her talents lied more with music. Last year, she played the flute in the school band, and planned to do the same this year. She absolutely loved playing the flute. It made her feel so peaceful. Like Vanessa, she too struggled with academics. As long as she tried, she would make mostly Bs. The only class she ever made an A in was English and of course Band.

"Oh great," Vanessa said sarcastically as she turned around. "Look who it is."

Aria looked down the hall only to see Kendal Lewis, who was probably the meanest, snobbiest girl in the entire school. Behind her, were her two most devoted disciples, Lacey Goodman and Karin Wales. Those two would always follow Kendal around and do whatever she did and Kendal has no problem bossing them around.

Aria saw that she was handing out party invitations. Ever since Kendal's mother got remarried to a wealthy lawyer, Kendal would through huge parities at her new house and invite everyone who was anyone. Unfortunately, Aria was not invited. She never got invited to any parties.

Kendal briefly glared at Aria and then brushed past her lightly bumping her, while proceeding to pass out her invitations.

Aria sighed. It looks like another year in high school had just begun, exactly the same as the year before.


	3. Chapter 2 Always Left Out

_Chapter 2_

_Always Left Out_

Aria trudged down the hallway along beside Vanessa as they both headed to their homeroom class. She could not help but feel down about not getting invited to Kendal's party. Vanessa looked over and noticed Aria's crestfallen expression.

"Oh, come on. You don't want to go to that party anyway. You'll be in the same house as Kendal. _Kendal!"_

Aria knew Vanessa was right. Kendal was not exactly a pleasant person to be around. She never understood how Kendal got to be so popular. She's mean to everyone, even her so called friends, Lacey and Karin, and her boyfriend, Ian. Another thing that puzzled Aria was why Ian was still dating Kendal. Back in middle school, when he first asked her out, Kendal was significantly more pleasant to be around. But now, she constantly would tell him and to do and call him stupid. Who would put up with that? Aria supposed it was similar to the reason she wanted to get an invitation to the party, to be socially accepted by her peers and unfortunately for this school, Kendal's the one who decides who is cool and who is not.

The girls and Walter went in to their homeroom class and sat down together. The first thing Aria noticed about the teacher was that she was about eight months pregnant.

"Hello, class," the teacher clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "I am Mrs. Norbert. Many of you will have me again later for English. I will go ahead and tell you now, the first piece of literature we will read is _Romeo and Juliet ."_

Most of the boys groaned, not thrilled about reading a love story. Aria did not mind that, but she was not entirely comfortable with Shakespeare.

"Now class. This is a beautiful story about true love. For those of you who have never read the play, please, at least give it a chance." Mrs. Norbert then spent the rest of the ten minutes of homeroom discussing the school's policy, academic honesty, and when tryouts for sports and cheerleading would be.

When the bell rang, most of the class got up and left. Aria noticed Vanessa remained seated.

"Aren't you coming?" Aria asked.

"I have English this period," Vanessa replied.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Well, see you later."

Aria and Vanessa had compared schedules and found that this year besides homeroom, they only had biology together. Aria just hoped that Derek and Kendal were not in many of her classes, but knowing her luck they would be. At least she knew for sure they would not be in Band, which was another positive attribute of that class. Plus, Walter was in Band as well. The only thing that would make it better was if Vanessa was in it, but Aria knew that would never happen.

As Aria walked to her locker, she overheard Ian and Kendal.

"So we're reading Romeo and Juliet. It will be like reading about us, won't it?" Ian winked at Kendal.

"You know they both die at the end." Kendal looked at him sharply.

"What? I never actually read it."

"It's common knowledge, you idiot."

Aria rolled her eyes. Kendal always got so annoyed with Ian's dumb remarks. She wondered why Kendal didn't just date someone smarter. Aria sighed as she continued to walk on to her next class. Walter walked up behind her.

"Are you in Latin next?" Aria asked hopefully.

"Yes, I am. Do you want to compare schedules?"

"Sure." Aria glanced at Walter's schedule. It appeared that after this, they only had Biology and Band together. Well, at least that's something.

The rest of the day went by rather slowly. All the teachers talked about what there class was going to be like and went over some rules. Aria was happy to finally get to Band, her last class, but then disappointed when she realized they were not going to play today. Oh well, at least after this, she would have survived her first day of school.

Once Band let out, Aria and Walter walked together to their lockers, which happened to be next to each other.

"Well, today wasn't so bad, was it?" Walter began to pack up his backpack while talking.

"Maybe not for you. It turns out I have every single class except Band and Gym with either Derek or Kendal, some of them with both. They are the very two people I want to avoid more than anyone."

"If you want to avoid Kendal so much, then why were you disappointed when you didn't get invited to her party?"

Aria looked over to see that Walter honestly look befuddled by this. He just did not get why it seemed so important to be popular. "It's just that…uh, I don't know… hey Vanessa!"

Thank goodness Vanessa showed up at that moment. Aria just could not come up with a way to explain why she wanted to be invited to Kendal's party to Walter.

The girls bid Walter farewell before heading towards the exit.

"Hey, lets go out the side door," Aria said as she noticed Derek by the front door.

"You know you can't avoid him the whole year. Maybe if you start standing up to him, he won't bother you anymore."

"Somehow I doubt that."

xXx

The first week of school dragged on at a slow pace. Aria found herself putting a lot of effort into avoiding both Kendal and Derek. Both of them would call her names and either make fun of her hair or extremely fair skin tone. It real got old after a while. She deeply wished that she had more classes with Vanessa and Walter . The only times all three of them were together was Biology and lunch.

Aria walked into her history class and sat by herself close to the back. She went ahead and got out her homework, when Ian sat down in the desk next to her.

"Hey, did you get number 3?"

When Aria realized her was talking to her, she quickly glances at her homework. What year was the Declaration of Independence signed? That question was not too hard to find in the text and most people already knew that.

"1776," Aria answered.

"Thanks, man," Ian scribbled down the year. "Hey, are you coming to the party tomorrow night. We're having it at Kendal's."

"No, you see, I didn't get an invite." Aria supposed Kendal failed to inform Ian on who was invited and who was not.

"What do mean? I thought everyone was coming. You should come. Kendal won't care."

"Hey, dude, why are you talking to Pippy Longstocking, here?" Derek came in and sat on the other side of Ian.

Aria rolled her eyes. In elementary school, Aria's mom would always do her hair in pig-tails and Derek, of coarse, starting calling her names because of it.

"I was just inviting her to the party. Come on, dude, she's cool."

"Without asking Kendal?"

"Hey, I don't need to ask her for every little thing."

"Whatever, man. Your funeral."

Before Ian had a chance for another retort, Mr. Mosby ordered the class to silence and began the lecture. Aria tried her best to pay attention but she just could not concentrate. Ian actually invited her to the party. This has to be the best Friday ever.

When the bell rang, Aria practically ran to Biology and sat between Vanessa and Walter.

"Guess what! Ian just invited me to the party tomorrow night!"

"Really! When?" Vanessa exclaimed while Walter sighed and went back to reading the text book.

"Just last period. He asked me what year the Declaration of Independence was signed and then after I gave him the answer he asked me if I was going to the party and when I said I wasn't invited he said I could come!"

"You mean he didn't know what year the Declaration of Independence was signed?" Walter looked up from his book.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "That's not the point Walter!" She then looked back at Aria. "So are you going to go?"

"Of coarse! You should come, too. Since I got a last minute invite, it's probably not a big deal if you come too."

"Well, I don't know." Vanessa was not as interested in going to parties with the popular kids as Aria.

"Come on please! I can't go by myself."

"Ladies, if don't don't mind, I would like to begin my lesson now." Mrs. Stevens looked down at them sternly.

"Sorry," they muttered and fell silent.

At lunch, they resumed their conversation.

"So?" Aria looked at Vanessa with pleading eyes.

"Oh, alright. We'll just get this out of our system. I think after this you'll realize that all it's only a bunch of kids that think they're cool gathered around dancing and drinking."

Aria turned to Walter. "What about you? Are you going?"

"To a party full of people I don't like and don't like me. No thank you."

"Come on, its part of high school." Aria opened her lunch box. "I forgot to pack something to drink. I'm going to go buy a soda."

As Aria walked to the vending machine, Kendal approached her.

"Aria. I need to talk to you about tomorrow night."

"Okay, sure." Aria had a bad feeling about this.

"You see, Ian was confused. I have already planned for a certain amount of people to come and we just don't have enough chips and drinks so you can't come." Kendal faked smiled at Aria. "You understand, right?"

Aria thought about offering to bring more food and drinks or maybe making brownies, but she knew that would only make her look desperate. She just nodded and walked gloomily back to her table.


	4. Chapter 3 Romeo and Juliet

_Chapter 3_

_Romeo and Juliet_

The next few weeks in school seemed pretty much the same as the first week. Aria began to wonder if that week just got put on repeat. Derek continued to tease her, there were parties every weekend and then the following week , everyone would talk about how awesome that party was.

As Aria made her way to History, she overheard Derek, Ian, and Kendal.

"You know, we have homecoming soon, Derek. You really need to start think about who you are planning to ask out," Kendal said.

"Homecoming's not till November. We've got the Halloween dance first," replied Derek.

"Yeah, Kendal," Ian chimed in. "We don't need to start worrying about the dance now. It's only September. I haven't even officially asked you about yet. Besides, Derek here, can get any girl we wanted."

"I know that. But last year, Derek did not ask anyone out."

Derek thought for a moment. "That's because there were no girls I was interested in."

"What about my friend, Karin," Kendal suggested. "I could set you up with her."

"Karin Wales! No way! I once asked her how her day was and she did not stop talking for an hour."

"Man, I hate it when girls do that," Ian commented.

Kendal snapped at him. "You're not helping, Idiot!"

"Okay, fine. What about your other friend, Lacey. She and Derek would go good together. Don't you think?"

"Lacey's already going out with Matt," Kendal replied. "Look Derek. It doesn't matter you who ask out so long a she's at least somewhat cool. Just ask someone." She then turned to Ian. "And you. You better asked me to Homecoming soon before I decide to go with someone else." With that Kendal marched off.

"Maybe I can solve both of our problems and just ask Kendal." Derek looked at Ian to see his reaction.

"Dude!"

"Just joking!"

Aria rolled her eyes and continued on to History, Derek and Ian not far behind her. She briefly wondered why Derek had not asked anyone out. Kendal was right. There are probably a lot of girls at this school that would want to go out with Derek. After all, he was pretty good looking with his wavy, dirty blonde hair that went just past his ears, not to mention that fact that he's on the football team. Is he really waiting, looking for the right girl? Maybe he's actually more sensitive than Aria gave him credit for.

"Hey, Sash-quash, you're in my seat," Derek said looking down at her.

And maybe not. Aria grabbed her books and moved over to another desk without saying a word.

_Vanessa's right_, Aria thought._ I do need to learn to stand up to him_.

At lunch, Aria told Vanessa what she overheard about Derek not wanting to ask anyone out for the dance.

"That is pretty weird," Vanessa agreed. "Usually guys like him just ask out the prettiest girl he can find."

"Maybe he really likes Kendal, but can't ask her out since she's with Ian."

"Could you imagine if those two started dating?"

Aria though about this. "I think the problem with Derek and Kendal is that they have too much in common. They're both arrogant, self-centered, and shallow."

She then turned to Walter. "You've been awfully quiet."

"I'm not interested in gossip," he said flatly. "You know, what I don't understand about you two is that you complain about how girls always talk about each other behind their backs, and here you are doing exactly the same thing."

"We're not gossiping," Vanessa declared. "We're just discussing Derek and Kendal possibly liking each other."

"That's the same thing."

"No its not!"

The two of them argued for the rest of lunch. Aria had grown use to their bickering. She thought about the possibility of someone asking her out, but she knew that was unlikely. Not a single boy in this school seemed interested in her, but still Aria enjoyed fantasizing about a handsome boy she had never met showing up and falling for her.

After lunch Aria had Geometry, which unfortunately had Kendal, but at least not Derek. Luckily for Aria, Kendal decided to ignore her. When class let out, Aria then made her way to gym. She did not care for gym since she was not good at sports, but still, once again she was free of certain classmates. Since Derek and Ian play football and Kendal is a cheerleader, none of them needed gym. Aria remembered trying to talk Vanessa into taking gym with her even though she plays volleyball, but Vanessa wanted to take Sculpture with is only offered at this time. Walter had gym earlier since boys had it at a different class period.

Gym class at Sheerwood High is kind of a joke. The girls always purposely took a long time to get changed and by the time the coaches got everyone together and finished taking roll, that class period was more than halfway over. Today, the girls played kickball for about ten minutes before it became time for them to change back into their school clothes and head to their next class which for Aria is English.

It turns out Mrs. Norbert was not kidding about being passionate about Romeo and Juliet. It's been three weeks and they still were not even halfway through discussing the play. Aria had to admit, she was getting pretty tired of it. She sat down in the classroom and pulled out her copy of the play and waited.

"Good afternoon, class." Mrs. Norbert remained seated on her stool. Aria imagined being nearly nine months pregnant made it difficult to move around.

Once Mrs. Norbert had everyone's attention she continued, "Today we will be acting out my favorite scene with Romeo and Juliet on the balcony. Now, do I have any volunteers for the parts of Romeo and Juliet?"

No one raised their hand.

"Very well then. It's look like I get to choose." Mrs. Norbert looked around the classroom. "Derek! Why don't you be Romeo."

Derek grunted and then walked up to the front of the classroom.

"And for Juliet, let's see…"

Aria stared down at her desk not making eye contact with her teacher. _Oh God, please don't let her pick… _

"Aria, you will be Juliet. Now come on up."

Aria sighed while joining Derek at the front of the classroom. Then then began to read where Mrs. Norbert told her to start.

"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

"With more feeling, Aria. Pretend you're dreaming about your true love."

Aria looked at Derek. She could not think of anything more impossible to do right now.

"Yeah," Derek added sarcastically. "Pretend you love me so much you will fake your own death just to be with me. I, thinking you are actually dead, kill myself over you and then you wake up, find that I'm dead, kill yourself over me."

"Derek!" Mrs. Norbert looked surprised at his remark.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Norbert. But I don't understand the point of this play. People killing themselves over love?"

If this were any other teacher, Derek would have got in trouble for that kind of comment. Mrs. Norbert, however, welcomed her student's opinion even if they went against her own. Aria had to admit, she agreed with Derek on this one. She just did not understand how a person could be so in love with someone they could not even live without them.

"Tell me, Derek. Have you ever been in love?"

"No."

Mrs. Norbert then looked to the rest of the class. "How about the rest of you? Has anyone here ever been in love?"

Only a few of Aria's classmates raised their hand. Ian only raised his after Kendal gave him a sharp look.

"Interesting. This gives me an idea for an assignment. Tonight for homework I want you to write me a short paragraph about whether or not you would be willing to die for your love so that you can be with them forever. If you did not raise your hand just try to imagine what it would be like to be in love with someone and write me your best response. Remember, there is no right or wrong answer. Just be honest and give me your opinion."

When class let out, Ian met up with Derek.

"Nice going, dude. You made her give us an extra assignment."

"It's just a paragraph," Derek responded then asked, "Would you die for Kendal?"

"Sometimes I think I might die because of Kendal."

Derek just laughed as the two of them exited the classroom.

Aria thought about what she would write for her paragraph. Honestly, she could not imagine being so in love with someone that she would be willing to die for him, but then again, she could not picture herself being in love at all. When she sat down in Band she turned around and asked Walter what he thought as he assembled his saxophone.

"That's a difficult question," he pondered. "I'm not sure how I would answer that. Like you, I do not know what is feels like to be in love."

"Mrs. Norbert said we had to imagine what it feels like if we've never been in love. I can't picture myself ever wanting to die for any reason."

"Well then. Just write that you value your own life and are willing to move on without your love."

The band directer stood up on the podium and everyone was ready to play their instruments. This year, for the fall concert, they will be playing "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic. It seems like the theme this year at Sheerwood is going to be love. Aria just could not get away from it.


	5. Chapter 4 Hair

_Chapter 4_

_Hair_

"I've told you, Vanessa. I'm not going to get give you the answer."

"I'm not asking you for answers, Walter. I just asked you what the function RNA is."

"So I suppose this is just your idea of a conversation starter."

"Yeah…sure."

"And your conversation starter just happens to be number 5 on our homework assignment."

"Come on, Walter. We only have a few minutes until Mr. Mosby gets here and starts class."

"Found it!" Aria had been desperately flipping through the pages of that chapter while Vanessa argued with Walter. "It's a temporary copy of genes and gene information."

"There's more to it than that," Walter commented.

"It'll have to do," said Vanessa as she scribbled the answer.

"Did you two really not have any time last night for school work?" Walter inquired.

"Well, I did have after school Flute practice, remember and Vanessa had volleyball practice."

"And when you got home it the only thing you had time for was dinner and then bed?"

"We may have talked on the phone, a little," Aria admitted.

"Class," Mr. Mosby walked into the room. "Please pass up your homework."

Together, Aria and Vanessa sighed with relief. They both finished just in time. Now, Aria just had her Geometry homework to worry about. She supposed she could do it during lunch. Since Vanessa already had Geometry, maybe she could help. From now on, Aria decided that she will no longer wait and do her homework until right before its due. Last night, she was just so tired and wanted to go to bed early.

Another thing that would help, is actually paying attention to the teacher's lecture. Then maybe it would not take her so long to find to the answer. Unfortunately, more than half the class had already gone by, and Aria had not listened to a single word Mr. Mosby said. She always found herself daydreaming. Her elementary school teachers would even send notes to her parents informing then that Aria had trouble paying attention.

At lunch, Aria did manage to finish her geometry homework so by the time she got to class she was ready to turn it in. Mr. Turner collected the homework and then proceeded on with the lecture about classifying angles. Once he finished, he gave out the homework assignment and gave the class the rest of the period to start it.

While she was deep in concentration, Aria felt a brief brush on her back, followed by a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey, did you get number 4?"

Aria turned around to see Kendal starring at her, waiting for a response.

"Well?"

Aria looked back at her homework. "Um… I got sixty degrees, but I'm not sure that's right."

"Doesn't matter. I just need a number to write down."

Aria rolled her eyes and went back to her assignment. Before she could finish, the bell rang and class got dismissed. As Aria made her way to her locker, she heard Walter call to her.

"Hey, Aria," as Walter approached her he said, "You have something in your hair."

As Aria reached her hand back to touch her hair, she felt something sticky and rubbery. "Eww…it's gum!"

"How did you get gum in your hair?"

Aria thought for a moment then it hit her. "Kendal! She must have stuck it in my hair when she asked me for the answer in Geometry. I can't believe it. This is low, even for Kendal!"

"You can ask for peanut butter. That should get it out," Walter suggested.

"There's no time. I just have to put my hair up in a ponytail for now. I'm going to gym next anyway. See you in Band."

During gym, Aria had a chance to unleash her anger. In kickball, she kicked harder than normal, pretending the ball was Kendal's head. Then she had a sudden thought. What if this was an opportunity for her to make a change? This time she actually has a reason to cut her hair. Her parents could not blame her for taking drastic actions to get a disgusting piece of gum out of her hair. They wouldn't be mad. Right?

On her way to Band, Aria sent a text to Vanessa asking if her older bother, Aaron, would be willing to drive them to the mall after school. Aria did not want to risk her parents stopping her, so she decided it was best to go ahead and get the haircut and then go home.

"Did you get the gum out yet?" asked Walter as Aria sat down and assembled her flute.

"I'm going to take care of it after school," Aria replied.

The moment Band let out, Aria quickly bid Walter a quick farewell, practically ran to her locker to get the rest of her things, and then went to find Vanessa.

"Did you ask you brother yet?" Aria demanded eagerly.

"He texted back 'sure,' Vanessa answered. "So what's the emergency. Why do you need to go to the mall so bad?"

"Kendal stuck gum in my hair."

"Ewww….that's disgusting!"

"I know, right?"

"Why don't you just use peanut butter?"

"I figured this would be a good excuse for a haircut. Besides, the joke will be on Kendal if my new hairstyle draws more attention to me than her."

Vanessa considered this. "Yeah, I suppose, but won't your parents get upset if you chop of all your hair?"

Aria shrugged. "They'll get over it. Besides, I'm sure they will understand why I did it once I explain about the gum. I can just say I didn't know peanut butter worked."

"I don't know about this, Aria. I just hope you don't get in too much trouble."

"How mad can they be over a haircut?"

Just as they walked out of the building, they spotted Aaron in his truck, waiting for them. The girls hopped in and they drove to the mall. Westmont Mall was rather small, but Aria knew, that there is at least one salon in it that took walk ins.

When Aaron dropped them off, the girls marched around the mall searching for a salon.

"There's one," Aria spotted. "Barbara Ann's Salon."

Aria walked up to the front counter. "Hi, uh, I would like to get a haircut."

"Name please."

"Aria Rosenberg."

The lady at the counter wrote down her name and said, "We'll name someone for you in about fifteen minutes, Ms. Rosenberg. Meanwhile you can sit over there."

Aria and Vanessa sat down in the waiting area and looked at the magazines.

"What do you think of this one. Do you think it would look good on me?" Aria showed Vanessa a picture of a girl with a hair that flipped out just past her shoulders.

"Cute," Vanessa flipped though the pages of her magazine. "You could also get side bangs to go with it."

"Great idea! Maybe highlights too!"

"I wouldn't push your luck, Aria. Your parents are already going to be mad enough."

The stylist then came out. "Aria Rosenberg."

Aria stood up. "That's me."

"Hello, Aria. My name is Lisa and I will be your stylist. So tell me, what would you like done?"

"Well, I at least need the gum cut out of my hair."

Lisa smiled, understanding.

"Um, let's see." Aria quickly glanced at the magazine one last time. "How about long layers and, um, I want my hair to flip out and I want side bangs.

"Alright, lets get started. Let me get that gum out then I will shampoo and condition your hair."

This was all so exciting for Aria. Never in her life had she gone to get a haircut. She did not ever know that they washed the hair before they cut it. Aria watched in awe as Lisa cut her hair with such precision. It could not be easy to cut in layers but Lisa looked as though she could do it with her eyes closed.

When Lisa finished blowdrying and styling her hair she turned Aria and allowed her to view herself in the mirror.

"Oh my god!" Aria could not believe it. She looked like a completely different person. Her hair was exactly like that model in the magazine, only better. Aria's hair flipped out past her shoulders just perfectly.

"Do you like it?" Lisa asked her.

"Like it? I love it! I have never looked like this in my entire life!"

Aria ran out to the waiting area to show Vanessa. "So, what do think?"

"You look amazing!" Vanessa gazed admirably. "And your totally right. The joke is on Kendal. Just wait until she see you!"

For the first time in well, ever, Aria actually looked forward to going to school the next day. She could not wait to see the other kids' expressions when they see her. But first, she had to deal with her parents.

"Good luck," Vanessa said as she and Aaron dropped Aria off at her house.

"Thanks," Aria replied as she walked up to her front door. Before she reached it, the front door opened and out came Ms. Fleming.

"Oh, hello, Aria. You're parents called me when you did not come home. They…. oh my, look at you." She noticed Aria's haircut. "Did you just now do that?"

"Yeah, that's where I was after school. Do you like it?"

"You always look lovely no matter what, dear. Well, I better get going. Good bye."

That was strange. Was Aria imagining this, or did Ms. Fleming seem nervous about something? Maybe she knew how upset Aria's parent would be when they see her haircut. Aria herself grew more and more anxious as she entered her house, not knowing what to expect.

"Where have you been," Elizabeth demanded. "Do you know how worried we've been? We called…. what did you do to your hair?"

"Kendal stuck gum in it so I got it cut." Aria tried to sound as calm as possible like it was no big deal.

"There are other ways to get gum out without hacking off your hair!"

Aria rolled her eyes. Her mother could be so dramatic. "I just thought that it's about time for a change. Besides, what's the big deal? It will grow back."

"Yes, I suppose it will." Elizabeth said this with a very odd tone in her voice. "Why would Kendal even put gum in your hair in the first place? You two use to be such good friends."

Aria sighed. Yes, it was true. There was once a time when Kendal was her best friend along with Vanessa. They even had three necklaces they would wear that said Best Friends Forever. Kendal's said Best, Aria's said Friends, and Vanessa's said Forever. But in eighth grade, when Ian first asked Kendal out, she became different. Aria guessed that she let her newfound popularity go to her head and for some reason, she decided to hate Aria. Now, without Kendal, Aria and Vanessa were left with Friends Forever.

Aria just answered, "I guess people change."

xXx

The next morning, Aria awoke her her mother's voice as usual. "Aria, sweetie. Time to get up."

"Five more minutes?"

"No, honey. You need to get up now. Come on, I'll help you brush your hair."

"Huh?" Aria sat up, slowly and realized that her hair once again went down to her waist. "But how…?"

Elizabeth just acted normal as if nothing happened. "Come on, lets brush it. There are probably a lot of tangles."

This is impossible. It's like her hair was never even cut in the first place. "Mom, how did my hair…?"

"I've told you, sweetie. You have very special hair."

Special. That's one word to describe this. Aria starred at herself in the mirror. This is just not normal.


	6. Chapter 5 Ms Fleming's Advice

_Chapter 5_

_Ms. Fleming's Advice_

"Okay. You were with me yesterday," Aria reviewed as she walked to school with Vanessa the next day. "We went to the salon. I got nearly six inches of my hair cut off. That really did happen…right?"

Vanessa did not even know how to respond. Aria's sudden hair growth came just as much of a shock to her as Aria.

Aria continued, "What's really weird is that my parents did not seem shocked at all. It was like they knew it would happen."

Vanessa remained silent for another moment then asked, "Aria, do you know anything about your birthparents?"

Aria had known pretty much her whole life that she was adopted. Before now, she had never really given much thought about her birthparents. As far as Aria is concerned, Ted and Elizabeth Rosenberg are her true parents.

"No," Aria answered. "I never asked about them. Why? Do you think they would have an explanation for this?"

"I don't know, Aria," Vanessa tried to phrase this as delicately as possible. "It's just that hair doesn't just grow six inches overnight. That's not exactly normal."

_Great, _Aria thought_, now even Vanessa thinks I'm a freak._

"I suppose I could try to find out who my birthparents are, except I don't know how, and I don't really feel comfortable asking my parents."

"Do you know where your parents adopted you from?"

"No. They still tell me the story about how they found me in a basket on their front porch with a note. As if they expect me to still believe that! It's not like I'm Harry Potter."

"Maybe not exactly, but you have to admit this could be something supernatural."

Just as Vanessa finished that last sentence, Aria suddenly realized how crazy they both sounded. "No! There has to be some logical explanation for this. Besides, its just my hair, nothing else. It probably just wasn't cut as short as we thought. After all, it was starting to get dark by the time we left the mall. And, I'm sure they are some people like me that has hair that grows real fast."

The girls happened to arrive to school early so they had extra time before homeroom began. Aria heard a voice call her from behind them.

"Hey Aria!"

Aria turned around to see Lacey Goodman heading in her direction.

"What does she want?" Vanessa wondered aloud.

They found out when Lacey reached them. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what Kendal did yesterday. That was a really dirty thing to do. I'm glad to see you got it out okay. You didn't even have to get your hair cut."

Aria sighed. There was no point in telling anyone about her haircut. Who would believe her? "Yeah, I used peanut butter. Worked like a charm."

"Well, that good. I'm sure Kendal is sorry and won't do it again. She was just having a really bad hair and, well, your hair is just so perfect. I'm sure she was just jealous and acted rashly."

With that, Lacey turned around and headed to homeroom. Aria rolled her eyes. Its amazing how Kendal's friends defend every mean thing she does. Both Lacey and Ian are generally nice people, but they have a blind spot when it comes to Kendal.

"You know she may be right," Vanessa commented once Lacey left.

"Right about what? Kendal has never felt bad about anything mean she's done, ever."

"I meant about her being jealous. Maybe the reason she's especially mean to you is because she's actually envious of you. Don't you think?"

"What is there to envy. She's the one everyone wants to be. She the one that has all the cool parties, she the head cheerleader, and she's the one who is dating football star, Ian Harris. Why on earth would she be jealous of me?"

Vanessa thought about this then said, "Maybe because you have always had naturally flawless skin and perfect hair, while she has to work for them. I mean, you don't even have to wear make-up. Or if you want to get deeper, it could be that your parents are happily married while her parents got divorced."

Aria remembered when Kendal's parents split up. It was when they were in seventh grade. She and Vanessa were the ones who stood by Kendal and helped her get through it. They even helped Kendal convince her mother not to move to New York as she planned on doing at the time. If only Aria had known then what Kendal would turn into now.

"Let's just not talk about Kendal anymore." As much as Aria could not stand Kendal now, she could not help but miss when they use to be friends.

Vanessa nodded. "Hey, do you want to go jogging with me tomorrow morning?"

Every weekend morning, Vanessa went out for a run to stay in shape for volleyball. Plus, she enjoys the extra exercise. On the rarest of occasion, Aria would join her, just as long as she goes to bed early enough to get a decent amount of sleep.

"Sure. I guess I could use some fresh air."

The rest of the day seemed to drag by at a slow pace. Fridays are always like that to Aria. It seemed like at least one bad thing happens to her every week. Aria just could not wait to get out of high school, then she would hopefully never have to see Kendal or Derek ever again.

xXx

Fortunately for Aria and Vanessa, Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for jogging. The sun's rays shined brightly, not a single cloud in the sky, with the temperature in the mid sixties. The two girls jogged side by side, Vanessa pacing herself so Aria could keep up.

"So what do you want to do after this?" Aria panted, starting to feel fatigued.

Vanessa, on the other hand, still had plenty of energy. "I don't know. Maybe go to the mall?"

Aria did not particularly care for going to the mall on Saturdays, mainly because that is when Derek and Kendal are most likely to go. Aria remembered last year, she went clothes shopping with her mother and ran into Derek. That next Monday, he made fun of her for needing to shop with her parents. Aria tried to think of something else she and Vanessa could do. "We could watch a movie at one of are houses."

Vanessa was not fooled by Aria's suggestion. "Are you worried about running into Kendal or something. I swear, Aria. You can't just keep on avoiding her forever."

"I know, but I can try for the rest of high school."

"You need to learn to stand up to her, and Derek, too for that matter."

"You know that's hard for me," Aria fell silent for a moment then asked, "Do you really think Kendal is just jealous and that's the only reason she's so horrible to me?"

"To be honest, I really can't think of another possible explanation," Vanessa answered. "She's always been like that. Ever since we first met her in elementary school. She always had to have the best of everything."

"Do you ever regret helping Kendal convince her mother not to move to New York?"

"Are you kidding? Every second of the day! If only we had known back then what she be like now."

Aria added, "Besides, she would probably be happier in New York than Nebraska."

New York would be perfect for someone like Kendal. The big cities, places to go, and the shopping. Kendal already goes to New York City every other weekend. She says its to visit her grandmother, but everyone knew the real reason is to shop for more fashionable clothes. After all, as a whole, New York City has more stylish clothes than Norfolk.

"I think I'm going to head back now," Aria panted even harder than before.

"Okay. I'm probably keep going for another half hour. I'll give you a call when I'm done." Vanessa started to jog a bit faster while Aria turned around to walk back home.

As Aria approached her street, she spotted Ms. Fleming out in her yard. She noticed that the bricks on Ms. Fleming's house seemed to have even more paint on them than before.

"Hi, Ms. Fleming!"

Ms. Fleming turned around. "Oh hello, Aria. Did you have a nice little jog?"

"Yeah, it was good, though I'm a bit exhausted now. Vanessa's still running."

"Well, that's nice." Ms. Fleming continued to smile. "How's school going?"

"Its, um, well its going." Aria really did not want to complain about school and the people in her class to Ms. Fleming.

"Aria, would you like to come inside and chat for a moment? I can make tea."

"Um, sure. I hope you don't mind I haven't showered yet." It didn't matter too much. Aria only jogged a short distance and it was not warm enough for her to get real sweaty.

"That's alright, dear. I don't mind."

The inside of Ms. Fleming's house looked pretty much the same as the outside with different colors of paint on the wall. Aria remembered when her parents would drop her off here so Ms. Fleming could babysit her. Ms. Fleming had so many beautiful dresses and she'd let Aria try them on. Aria, wearing these fancy dresses, would pretend to be a princess and imagined a prince that always came to her rescue. Oh how she missed being a little girl.

"Here's your tea, darling." Ms. Fleming placed the tiny teacup on the table in front of Aria.

"Thank you." Aria grabbed a couple sugar cubes from the bowl and stirred them into her tea.

"So," Ms. Fleming sat down at the table across from Aria, "You will be turning sixteen next month."

"Yep, October 7." It just hit Aria that her birthday is only a couple weeks away even though the school year seemed to go by slower than normal.

"Funny how time goes by. It seems like just yesterday I saw your parents carrying you around when you were a baby."

Aria thought for a moment. Ms. Fleming appeared to be only thirty, yet she was around here when Aria was a baby, nearly fifteen years ago. Maybe Ms. Fleming is just older than she appears. Aria realized that she did not even know Ms. Flemings age. Come to think of it, she did not know much about Ms. Fleming at all.

"Aria, are you alright?

Aria looked up to see a concerned Ms. Fleming. "Yeah, sorry. I just spaced out."

"Thinking about a particular boy?"

Aria nearly choked on her tea. "No, I, um. There is no one I like."

"Really, are you sure? I'll bet there are a lot of nice boys at your school."

_Not really, _Aria though but decided to say, "I guess there are a few, but none of them are interested in me."

"Now, I'm sure that's not true. Maybe they're just shy."

Aria could not think of a single shy boy at Sheerwood High. Maybe since there are too many loud and obnoxious boys, the quiet ones just went unnoticed. Aria had no idea what to say. Never had she felt more uncomfortable in a conversation.

Ms. Fleming continued, "Listen to me, Aria. You are almost sixteen. Love is a wonderful thing for someone your age to experience. I advise you to give someone you are normally not interested in a chance. After all, love works in mysterious ways.

Aria wondered why Ms. Fleming was so concerned about her love life. She made it sound as if it is absolutely important for someone her age to have a boyfriend. Come to think of it, Ms. Fleming seemed awfully interested in a lot of Aria's life. Almost like a… a sudden thought hit Aria.

"Aria?"

"Um, I actually have to go now. My mom is expecting me for lunch." With that, Aria bid Ms. Fleming a quick good bye and almost ran home.

Her mind was racing. All her life, Aria knew her parents had adopted her, but they never said which adoption agency they got her from. Most parents, once they put their children up for adoption, are not really involved in their children's lives after that, but what if this situation is different? Aria looked back at Ms. Fleming's house with wonder as she continued towards her own home. What if her real mother chose to stay close by.


	7. Chapter 6 Aria's Theory

_Chapter 6_

_Aria's Theory_

When Aria entered her house, she quickly ran up the stares, grabbed her phone and sent a text to Vanessa, "call me ASAP!" She knew it would be almost an hour before Vanessa finished her run and showered. Aria sat at her room desk with her phone right in front of her, pondering over her possible birthmother.

The phone rang.

"Vanessa!"

"Hey, what's the emergency?"

"I just need to talk to you about something. Something important. Are your parents home? Can I come over?"

"Um, sure. Mom and Dad are out shopping and Aaron's over at a friend's so we have the house to ourselves for a while."

"Great! I'll be over in two minutes." Aria hung up and went down stairs.

"Mom, I'm going over to Vanessa's. Is that alright?"

Elizabeth smiled and said, "Of course! Just be back in time for dinner."

Aria quickly rushed across the street and rang the doorbell. It's times like this when Aria was especially glad that her best friend lived right across the road. Once Vanessa opened the door and let her in, the girls walked upstairs to Vanessa's room.

"So what's up?" Vanessa asked looking concerned.

"Okay," Aria breathed trying to think of the best way to word her new theory. "I know this is going to sound insane, but I'm just going to say it. I think Ms. Fleming might be my real mother."

Vanessa's eyes widened. "What? Are you serious?"

"Think about it. She's lived here my whole life. My parents said she moved in that house shortly after they adopted me. She has always been involved in my life and she's giving me advise about having a boyfriend."

"That doesn't necessarily mean she's your mother. Since she's known you all your life, she probably just thinks of you as a close friend. Besides, she looks too young to have a teenage daughter."

Aria wasn't going to let this go that easily. "That's it! Maybe she was just a teenager when she got pregnant with me and that's why she gave me up for adoption. She was unable to provide a good home for me at the time, but she wanted to stay close by and see me grow up so she decided to live on the same street."

Vanessa frowned. "You said she was trying to encourage you to date. Aria, I don't think someone who got pregnant in their teens would encourage their daughter to date so young."

Aria plopped herself on Vanessa's bed and said, "She's always been a romantic. I remember when I was a little girl she'd always tell me that one day I will find my true love."

"She doesn't actually think you will find true love at Sheerwood High, does she?"

"Funny. That's exactly what I though when she said that to me." Aria starred up at the ceiling then added, "Look at us! Usually you're the one with the crazy ideas and I'm trying to talk sense into you."

Vanessa laughed then considered, "Well, I guess its not impossible that Ms. Fleming is your mother. There are some things you have in common. Like you both have flawless, light skin and extremely long hair, though her's is red and your's is golden blonde."

Aria did not even think of that. She got even more excited about this idea. "Maybe she's knows why my hair grows super fast or my skin doesn't change no matter what I do. Oh, I wish I could talk to her about this, but I don't even know if its true."

"Is there a way you can find out?"

"The only way I can think of is to ask my parents, but I seriously doubt they will tell me anything."

"You could ask Ms. Fleming," Vanessa suggested.

"Yeah, I suppose I could, but I don't think she'll admit it either."

Aria tried to imagine what she would do if she were pregnant right now. Unfortunately, that was a bit difficult since she did not even have a boyfriend.

The two friends spent the rest of the afternoon discussing the possibility of Ms. Fleming being Aria's birthmother. Then, Aria realized the time.

"Oh my god! It's almost 6:00. My mom's expecting me for dinner. I have to go."

The girls exchanged goodbyes, saying they will see each other again tomorrow. By herself, Aria walked across the street back to her own home and saw her father standing out in the yard.

"What are you doing, Dad?"

"Mom said you went over to Vanessa's. I was just making sure you got back safely," Ted answered.

"Okay… she only lives right across the road. I think I can walk back without you having to worry."

"You never know these days."

When Ted turned around to walk back in the house, Aria rolled her eyes. What has gotten into her parents lately? First, they want to start walking her to school, now she can't even walk across the street to Vanessa's without them feeling the need to watch her. For some odd reason, it seemed like the closer Aria got to age sixteen, the stranger people acted, or at least her parents and Ms. Fleming (who might be a parent, too).

At first, Aria ate in silence with her parents before asking, "Mom, how long have you known Ms. Fleming."

Elizabeth, without looking up from her dinner plate, responded, "Since she moved in not long after we got you, sweetie. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. Do you know anything about her family or whether she use to have a boyfriend before she moved here?" If Aria could at least get her parents talking about Ms. Fleming's past maybe she could find out if she even had children in the past.

This time Ted answered, "I know she has three sisters, but I'm not sure about a boyfriend."

Elizabeth gave her husband a sharp waring look which Aria did not miss. One thing she knew for sure was that both of her parents were keeping something from her about where she came from and Ms. Fleming. She had to get it out of them.

"Mom, or Dad, where did I come from?" Aria decided to reword the question more specifically. "Did you get me from an adoption agency or did my real mother give me to you?"

Ted laughed. "We've told you this before, Honey. We found you in a basket on our front porch when we first moved into this house."

Aria rolled her eyes. Clearly her parents were not going to tell her anything. There is still someone she could try… Ms. Fleming.

xXx

The next day, Aria got up earlier than usual and decided to go have a little chat with Ms. Fleming. As she approached Ms. Fleming's house, Aria noticed it seemed quiet. Hoping she was not still sleeping, Aria rang the doorbell. No answer. Aria tried three more times before giving up and heading back to her own home.

Aria wondered where Ms. Fleming could be. She saw her small yellow car still parked in the driveway. Perhaps, she went out for a walk or something.

"Hey Aria!"

Aria turned to see Vanessa out in her yard. "Hi Vanessa!"

"I saw you walking over to Ms. Fleming's. I should tell you I saw her walking down the street with a suitcase."

Aria walked up to Vanessa's house and commented, "She did not say anything about taking a vacation. I wonder where she went."

"Maybe to visit one of her sisters," Vanessa suggested. "How many does she have?"

"Three," Aria remembered what her father said last night. "Don't you think its strange that we have never seen any of her sisters?"

"I suppose, but they probably live in more fun places to visit than Nebraska."

Aria sighed. She had become use to Ms. Fleming making random unexpected trips. Aria just wished that for once, Ms. Fleming would tell her where she went. There's just so much Aria does not know about her neighbor down the street for whom she has known her whole life.


	8. Chapter 7 The Substitute

_Chapter 7_

_The Substitute_

"Too bad Mrs. Norbert had to have the baby now. If she held it in a couple more weeks, it could share a birthday with you, Aria," Vanessa said as she and Aria sat down next to Walter in homeroom.

Mrs. Norbert went into labor on Saturday. On Sunday morning, she gave birth to a baby girl and named her Sarah.

"She'd probably have bad luck if she was born on my birthday."

"How so?" Vanessa inquired.

"Well, let's see. She will have trouble fitting in high school, no boys will be interested in her, and she will never be invited to any cool parties."

Walter looked up from his textbook and commented, "I'm not quite sure I understand your logic there, Aria. What day you are born on does not have any impact on what your life will be like unless you buy into all the astrology nonsense."

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "She's not serious, Walter. God, you take everything so literally. Besides, astrology is not complete nonsense. I actually believe in some of it. Like I'm a Capricorn and according to astrology we are very independent and strong friends."

"She right about the friendship part," Aria commented.

"Yes, but that has nothing to do with when she was born." He turned back to Vanessa. "Honestly Vanessa, next you're going to tell me you believe in psychics."

"Actually I did go see a psychic at he mall a couple weeks ago when Aria was getting her hair cut."

Walter glanced back at Aria and frowned. "When did Aria get her hair cut? It doesn't look any different."

"It was just a trim," Aria said quickly.

"Oh," Walter looked back to Vanessa. "Just out of curiosity, what did this supposed psychic tell you?"

"She just told me I would forgot something important when I needed it most. I guess its possible she's a fake, but that does not mean there aren't any psychics out there."

The two of them continued to bicker over psychics and astrology until Aria noticed something. "Hey guys. I wonder where our substitute is. Homeroom's almost over."

"I don't know. Maybe Mrs. Norbert forgot to call one," Vanessa suggested and then turned to Walter. "Why are you still reading your Biology book."

"I just reviewing myself for the test."

Vanessa's eyes widened. "That's today! I completely forgot about it. Oh no… I am so going to fail!"

Aria, too had forgotten about the test, but she did read the chapters and do the homework so she was pretty sure she would at least pass.

"Well, it looks like your psychic was right," Walter commented to Vanessa. "You did forget about important information when you most needed it."

"Oh shut up, Walter! What am I going to do?"

Despite the fact that Vanessa snapped at him, Walter still showed sympathy for her. "Look, it doesn't seem like our substitute is going to show up anytime soon so you can use this next class period to study. Then, since we have geometry together and today we have a study hall, I can help you review then. Alright?"

"Alright," Vanessa nodded a little calmer. "Thanks, Walter. Sometimes, its really good being your friend."

"I knew it. You are just using me for grades," Walter joked.

"You're right, Walter. If you were as dumb as me, I'd never hang out with you," Vanessa laughed.

Aria was glad to see the two of them laughing and joking around as oppose to arguing for a change. The bell rang. Since there was still no sign of a substitute teacher, Vanessa opened her Biology book and began to study while Aria and Walter headed to Latin.

"I hope you are okay with the material in Biology," Walter said as the two of them walked down the hall. "I don't think we have a study hall in Latin."

"I think I'll pass." She secretly planned to do her last minute studying during History. If Derek and Ian can text throughout the entire class period without being noticed, then Aria should have no problem hiding the fact that she's studying for another class.

xXx

Aria, still exhausted from the Biology test, barely had enough energy to play basketball during gym. It turns out, she probably should have studied more last weekend, but she had too much else on her mind with her whole Ms. Fleming may be her biological mother theory.

"Aria, you're suppose to catch the ball when I pass it to you!"

Aria turned to see a very annoyed Karin Wales glaring at her.

"Um, sorry about that." Aria just could not focus on anything today.

Aria could not help but feel glad when gym let out though she was not necessarily looking forward to English. She wondered if they ever found a substitute or if there would just be a study hall. She would soon find out.

As Aria walked into her English classroom, she observed a woman with long dark hair standing by Mrs. Norbert's desk, watching each student as they entered the room. Her skin was probably as pale as Aria's, but she was still beautiful. So beautiful, it was almost unreal. For some reason, Aria thought of Ms. Fleming when she saw this woman.

The woman spoke, "Hello, class. I am Ms. Malone and I will be your substitute while Mrs. Norbert is on maternity leave. First, I will take attendance quickly and then we will begin with my lesson."

"Thomas Bradley."

"Here."

Aria wondered if they were going to continue with _Romeo and Juliet _or finally start something new.

"Ian Harris."

"Here."

"Derek James."

"Present."

"Kendal Lewis."

"Here."

Ms. Malone did seem to go though the names fairly quickly. She did not even bother to look at the students who answered.

"Aria Rosenberg."

"Here." Ms. Malone did, however, look at Aria. Aria could have sworn she saw a brief smile on the corner of Ms. Malone's lips before she resumed her role taking. Aria decided to shrug it off. She must have been imagining things.

Once Ms. Malone finished taking role she began, "I understand you have been studying the play, _Romeo and Juliet_, for the past month. Well, I want you to know that today, we will start something different."

"Yes!" Derek cheered.

"Instead, we will study fairy tales."

The class looked at each other confused. Kendal whispered to Ian, "I think she has us confused with a class of first graders."

"Actually, Ms. Lewis. I believe fairy tales are valuable for people of all ages, especially the way we are going to study them." With that, Ms. Malone pulled out a box from under the desk and passed out the fairy tale books to everyone.

Aria was surprised Ms. Malone knew who Kendal was already. After all, she had only just learned her name. Also, how did she even hear what Kendal said to Ian. They were all the way in the back of the room. Aria barely heard Kendal from two desks away.

"First we will discuss, Sleeping Beauty. Now, who can tell what this story is about? How about you, Mr. Harris."

Ian, who had decided to rest his head on his desk for a nap, looked up, confused. "Um, let's see, Sleeping Beauty. Uh, there's a princess, she gets put in a comma or something and a prince comes and kisses her and she wakes up."

"The prince risks his life to get to the princess," Ms. Malone seemed to make Ian nervous as she looked down on him. "Tell me, Mr. Harris. Would you risk your life to save the woman you love."

"Um," Kendal gave Ian the same sharp look she had given him during Ms. Norbert's discussion. "Yeah…sure."

Derek rolled his eyes at his best friend. Ms. Malone turned to him.

"And what about you, Mr. James. Would you risk your life for the princess."

"Depends."

"Depends on what?"

"How hot she is." Most of the class laughed while Aria just rolled her eyes.

Like Aria, Ms. Malone was not amused by Derek's comment. "You know, Mr. James. You really should take this lesson more seriously. You never know what decisions lie ahead for you in the future."

"Right. Someday, I going to rescue a princess from a tower, give her true loves kiss, and together we will rule the kingdom."

Ms. Malone's eyes seemed to grow darker all of the sudden. "I don't appreciate sarcasm, Mr. James. Now, if you don't mind, I would like a serious answer to my question."

"No, then. I would not risk my life for one girl since there are plenty of others out there."

"You're going to be a bachelor for the rest of your life with that attitude," Kendal snapped.

"And I'm looking forward to it," Derek responded.

"Enough," Ms. Malone interjected. "Well, Mr. James. I appreciate your honesty."

Was Aria imagining this or did Ms. Malone seemed satisfied with his answer? Maybe she just did not believe in true love and the whole point of this lesson was to show that fairy tales send the wrong message.

"Now, Ms. Rosenberg," Ms. Malone turned to Aria. "How do you think this story should end?"

"Um, I guess with the prince rescuing the princess and they live happily ever after."

"And the evil fairy is defeated?"

"Well, yeah. I guess."

"That seems awfully close minded, Ms. Rosenberg. Detention."

Aria could not believe her ears. Was she actually getting detention just for answering a question?

"Hold on a second." Aria was surprised to see that it was Derek who spoke. "You're giving to detention for answering the question after you just said you were happy with me for giving my opinion? What kind of game is that?"

Ms. Malone looked at him sharply. "For someone who just stated he would not risk his life for a woman, you seem awfully quick to come to this particular girl's defense. Detention, Mr. James."

"Wait," Aria spoke up. "Ms. Malone, I'm sor….

"That's my final word. Detention."


	9. Chapter 8 Detention

_Chapter 8_

_Detention_

During Band, Aria re-played last period's events over and over in her head, trying to make sense of it. She could not come up with a possible reason for her detention, or even Derek's for that matter. Why did Ms. Malone decide to dislike her?

"Aria," Mr. Spooner looked down at her from the podium. "Your solo?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Aria began to play.

Last week, during after school practice, the flutes were tested to see who could best play the solo and Aria was chosen. She desperately did not want to let Mr. Spooner down. Aria could not bare to disappoint yet another teacher.

After Band let out Walter looked at Aria concerned. "Is something wrong, Aria? You seem a bit out of it."

"It's just, well," Aria figured she may as well tell him. "I got detention today in English."

"Detention, you? That's got to be a first. Why did you get detention?"

"That's just it. I have no idea. All I did was answer a question. Did she have a discussion with your class?"

"No. All she did with us was read out loud, _Hansel and Gretel, _and told us to write a summary about it. I must say, she's a pretty strange character. She seemed side more with the witch than Hansel and Gretel."

"I wish I was in your class." Aria was pretty sure that it was Derek's commentary that put Ms. Malone in a fowl mood in the first place.

Aria was unsure of how long detentions lasted, but she planned on meeting up with Vanessa after her volleyball practice. When she arrived back at the classroom, she found the door closed and Derek sitting out in the hallway.

When Derek saw Aria approaching, he said, "Ms. Malone wants us to wait here and she will talk to us separately."

"Um, okay." Aria sat down next to Derek and waited.

Aria couldn't help but ask, "Do you know why we got detention?"

"Easy," Derek replied. "She's insane."

"Shhh! She's in the classroom. You don't want her to hear you."

"She can't hear us out hear."

Aria recalled, "She did hear what Kendal said in the back of the room, remember?"

Derek still did not seemed concerned. "Yeah, well, we're already in trouble."

"Well, I'd like to get back on her good side if possible."

"Why do you care so much? It's not going to matter what teacher's think of you once high school is over."

"Why do you care so much about being popular?" Aria shot back. "That won't matter either once we're out of high school."

"I don't care, really."

"Yeah right."

Derek looked at her. "Its the truth. If I cared more, don't you think I would be dating a cheerleader? I'm just all about living life the way I want to."

Aria did not bother to respond. She couldn't tell whether or not Derek was being sincere. Surely he must at least somewhat care about popularity.

After a few moments of silence Derek asked, "Hey, do you remember that English assignment Mrs. Norbert gave us? The one about whether we would die for someone we love?"

"Sure. Why?"

"What did you put?"

"I said no because I value my own life," Aria admitted. "Those were actually Walter's words but it is how I feel. What did you say?"

"I said no, too."

"Why?"

"Because after seeing how Ian is with Kendal, I promised myself I would never get that wrapped up over a woman."

"Nice," Aria commented. "Though I do see your point."

Ian may think that he is in an actual relationship with Kendal, but to the outside world, it just appeared to be mistress and servant boy. Aria could not understand why Ian continued to date her and apparently, Derek agreed with her.

Another thought came to Aria. She was actually having a real conversation with Derek James. No teasing or mocking. Just talking. Could this day get anymore backwards?

The door opened and out came Ms. Malone. "Mr. James, I will speak with you first. Ms. Rosenberg, please wait out here."

Aria could not help but feel anxious. Ms. Malone wanted to talk to them alone? How much trouble could she be in? Also, even though Aria never had detention before, she was sure this is not how it normally works. She sat nervously and waited, her palms beginning to sweat.

After a few minutes, Derek came back out.

"What did you talk about?" Aria demanded nervously.

"She basically just said I was being a hypocrite for defending you and that I should stick to my original beliefs. Oh, and I shouldn't get so wrapped up over girls at my age."

"I guess you won't have a problem with that."

Derek grinned and then said, "Well, good luck. See you later."

"Ms. Rosenberg. I'm waiting."

Aria breathed slowly as she entered the classroom prepared to apologize. To her surprise, Ms. Malone smiled at her and said, "Please have a seat, Aria."

Aria sat down at the middle desk of the front row. She briefly wondered why Ms. Malone decided to start calling her by her first name.

"I just want to start by saying I'm sorry about the misunderstanding. I didn't mean to actually give you detention. You see, I'm not from around here so I'm not exactly sure what the customs are. I simply just wanted to talk with you, Aria. Nothing more."

Aria sighed, relieved. "That's okay. What did you want to talk about?"

"Today's lesson. Fairy Tales are just fascinating, don't you think? There's just so much you can learn from them."

Aria nodded. Again, Ms. Malone reminded her of Ms. Fleming. Aria recalled Ms. Fleming passionately reading her fairy tales to her as a little girl.

Ms. Malone continued. "One thing you must understand, Aria, is that there are two sides to every story. Even what appears to be evil in the version you read has their own side of the story. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Ms. Malone smiled. "Tell me, Aria, why do you believe the evil fairy placed a curse on the princess in _Sleeping Beauty?_"

"Well, I guess she was upset that she wasn't invited to the celebration," Aria responded beginning to understand what Ms. Malone was saying.

"And do you know, what this supposedly evil fairy might have felt?"

Aria spoke more confidently, "Left out…rejected."

"Well, it appears you do understand," Ms. Malone smiled.

"Yes! I have never been invited to a single party thrown by my classmates and that is exactly how I feel. And you know what? The girl who has most of these parties use to be one of my best friends and now she just either torments me or completely ignores me. It feels horrible."

"Yes, I understand as well, dear. You see, many years ago there was this grand celebration and all my sisters were invited, except me."

Aria's jaw dropped at this. "That's terrible! Did they tell you why you couldn't come."

"They said there were simply not enough chairs."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Last month, Ian did invite me to one of the parties and then Kendal comes up to me and says I can't come because there were not enough food and drinks. Can you believe that!"

Ms. Malone smiled understanding and commented, "People can be quite unbelievable sometimes. Well, Aria. I have somewhere I need to be now. I must say, this was quite a good talk. I look forward to seeing you again in the future."

Aria smiled back. "Yeah, this was great! I've never talked this way with a teacher before. Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

Aria could not believe how well that went. Never in her life, had she had a teacher that actually seemed to understand her. She wondered what Ms. Malone was like in high school. Maybe, she too, felt like an outsider to her peers, though it seems like she gets left out of even family events. Poor Ms. Malone.

"Hey, Aria!"

Well, that was good timing. It appears Vanessa just finished up with volleyball practice.

"Hi, Vanessa!" Aria replied cheerfully.

"You're awfully perky for someone who just had their first detention. Walter told me. How was it?"

"It actually wasn't detention, you see, Ms. Malone just wanted to talk."

"Oh, okay. About what?"

"How there are two sides to every story. Like in _Sleeping Beauty,_ the evil fairy was just upset that she got left out of the celebration. We should know what that feels like, right?"

Vanessa frowned, "Yeah, but we don't curse Kendal with death when she doesn't invite us."

"Well, I suppose the fairy did over-react a bit, but its just a story. It you look at it differently, it could be a lesson on what happens when you leave people out."

"Over-reacted? She cursed an innocent baby to die. I'd say that more than just a simple over-reaction. I'm pretty sure that is not the point of the story. Ms. Malone seems to have a pretty twisted view on life."

"She just understands what rejection feels like. Besides, they're fairy tales. They are not meant to be taken literally."

After that, the girls silently agreed to disagree as they walked back home. For once in her life, Aria was actually looking forward to the next day in school.

xXx

Much to Aria's dismay, Ms. Malone was not there the next day or any day after that. Aria wondered what happened to her. Why would she just come for one day, bond with a student, and then leave for good? Aria desperately wanted to see her again, but had to idea how to go about doing that.

She looked around at her classmates. No one else seemed to notice or care that Ms. Malone was gone. It almost seemed as if she had never been there at all.


	10. Chapter 9 Edmund

_Chapter 9_

_Edmund_

"Congratulations on making first chair, Aria!" Vanessa cheered when Aria told her.

Yesterday, during after school Band practice, they had a chair test and once again, Aria had made first chair. She just remembered to inform Vanessa of the good news this morning right before homeroom.

"Your parents sure picked out the right name for you," Vanessa went on. "Doesn't Aria mean something to do with music?"

"Actually an aria is a solo performed in an opera," Walter informed.

Vanessa looked at him exasperated. "Do you know everything?"

"Nobody knows everything, Vanessa."

"Oh, yeah. Tell me something you don't know," Vanessa demanded.

"Okay, lets see," Walter thought for a moment. "I don't know all the rules of physics, whether or not it is possible for there to be more than one dimension in our universe, or who that guy over there is."

Confused, Aria and Vanessa turned around to to who Walter was talking about. They spotted a boy about their age. He had to be the most beautiful boy Aria had ever seen in her life. He had golden, wavy, blonde hair that went to his ears, he was tall but not too tall, and when he smiled his teeth seemed to almost sparkle. Aria could not believe her eyes.

Once Aria snapped out of her trance she commented, "Great, more man candy for the girls here to drool over."

Sure enough, every single girl in the hall gazed at this boy as he walked. Karin's tongue looked like it was about to fall out of her month. She had to realize how ridiculous she looked though she didn't really stand out among the other girls. The odd thing about this situation was that the boy did not seem to pay these girls any attention. He did not even look at them. But when he reached Aria, he smiled and winked at her before moving on. Aria's heart seemed to jump a mile as he walked by.

"I wonder why he didn't come here at the in August when school started instead of waiting until the end of September," Vanessa commented.

Neither Aria or Walter could think of a reason. The three of them walked into homeroom where Mr. Stone, the new substitute, waited to take role. Mr. Stone made English the most boring class ever. He had absolutely no personality whatsoever. They may as well have a robot teach the class. Aria missed the discussions they had back with Mrs. Norbert and even the one with Ms. Malone. English just wasn't the same anymore. Aria still thought about Ms. Malone from time to time. It seems so odd that she would just show up for half a day and then just disappear. Too bad. Aria had really looked forward to Ms. Malone's teaching after that talk they had.

Just as Mr. Stone was about to take roll, Principal Whiteman came in and announced, "Class, we have a new student. This is Edmund Calloway. Please make him feel welcome."

With that he left the room as Edmund walked in. Once again, all the girl's eyes fell upon him. The boys, on the other hand, just appeared jealous. Derek even looked angry for some unknown reason. Edmund, just as before, paid no attention to any other girl, his gaze only on Aria.

As Edmund approached the empty desk on the other side of Aria he asked, "Excuse me, Miss. Is this seat occupied?"

Aria shook her head. She could not believe how polite he is being. That is an extremely rare quality for a high school boy, especially at Sheerwood.

"Do you have Latin, next?" Edmund inquired to Aria.

"Yes," Aria replied.

"Do you mind if I have a look at your schedule?"

"Um, sure." Aria fished around her backpack for it. By this time of the year, she didn't need it anymore, but she never threw away. "Here it is."

Edmund studied it. "Well, it appears that we have all of the same classes. Would you mind doing the honor of showing me where everything is?"

"No. Not at all." Aria could not believe they had every single class together. What were the odds? Her luck with boys finally seemed to turn around. Edmund seemed to be almost perfect.

Aria tried to snap herself back into reality. After all, she just met Edmund. This is not like a fairy tale when a man and woman meet and then a few moments later decide to get married. That kind of thing just did no happen in reality. Aria still could not help but hope for something to happen, especially since Edmund seemed to ignore every girl except her.

Since Aria and Edmund had every single class with each other they were together the whole day. Every other girl starred with jealousy at Aria, especially Kendal who would glare at them every time they came into her sight. Aria did not understand why. Did Kendal forget that she already has a boyfriend or did she simply just not want Aria to be happy? For once though, Aria was not concerned about Kendal. She could care less about what Kendal thought of her right now as well as the rest of the school. The only thing on Aria's mind at the moment is Edmund.

xXx

Once school let out, Derek headed to his locker to meet Ian when something caught his ears, music. It sounded like a flute. Normally Derek did not notice that kind of thing but for some reason, at this particular moment, he felt drawn to it. The sound was irresistible. After feeling annoyed the whole day over the new boy, it felt nice to hear something soothing. He began to walk toward the Band room. Derek opened to door just a crack to see that it was Aria who played so lovely. Derek knew she played the flute but had no idea she is this good.

"Dude, I've been looking for you. What are you doing by the Band room?"

Derek snapped out of his trance to see Ian standing there looking dumbfounded.

"Oh, I just uh…." when Derek was unable to come up with a reason, he just said, "Come on. We're going to be late for football practice."

xXx

"Beautiful! You really do have a gift," Edmund admired as Aria finished playing her solo for him.

"Thanks," Aria replied shyly. They had both stayed after Band because Edmund declared he wished to hear Aria play some more. Aria could not think of a reason to say no so she sent a quick text to Vanessa and stayed with Edmund.

Then Aria recalled, "Hey, I thought I heard the door open while I was playing. Did someone come in?"

"I heard no one," Edmund replied. "Though its likely because I was too busy admiring your exquisite music playing."

Aria smiled. "Would you like me to play something else?"

"How about this?" Edmund reached into his bag a pulled out some sheet music.

Aria picked it up and observed that it was the love theme to _Romeo and Juliet. _Funny. If this had been at the beginning of the school year, Aria would have been annoyed to see yet another long song, but now she didn't mind so much.

Once Aria finished playing, Edmund once again praised her. Aria looked over to him. She felt something, but she wasn't quite sure what. Could it be…?

Edmund leaned over towards Aria. Their lips almost met when…

"Ms. Rosenberg, Mr., uh, Calloway, right?" Mr. Spooner interjected. "I'm going to have to ask you two to leave now. I have a student coming in for a private lesson."

"Yes, sir," they replied in unison and left.

"Well, I better head home now anyway before my parents start to worry," Aria said as they walked out the building.

"How about I go with you? A young lady should not have to walk by herself," Edmund offered.

"Okay."

The two walked together towards Aria's house, holding hands. Aria's heart raced continuously. She could not believe what she felt for she truly believed for the first time in her life she was actually in love.


	11. Chapter 10 Love and Jealously

_Chapter 10_

_Love and Jealously_

"Oh, this was the best day of my life!" Aria declared on the phone to Vanessa that evening.

"I can't believe he walked you home," Vanessa added. "What a gentleman! You don't see a lot of that in boys our age."

"That is so true. Edmund is different from any boy I've ever met. Did I tell you he is planning on taking me out to dinner for my birthday next week?"

"That would be three times now. You guys sound like you are already getting serious."

"Yeah, so?"

"You have only known each other for a day."

This information suddenly hit Aria. Has it really only been one day? To her, it felt as of she had known Edmund for a very long time, years even. She could not believe how well they connected with each other and only after spending one day together. Aria replied to Vanessa, "I guess it seems like longer than that to me."

"Or maybe your making more of all this than it actually is."

"Hey, I know what I'm feeling. I know this seems crazy, but I think I'm actually in love."

"Aria, you don't even know him. Doesn't it seem strange that he just came out of nowhere and immediately fell for you? There's something off about him."

Aria started to get annoyed. "What are you implying? That since he fell for me, there's something wrong with him?"

"NO, of coarse not!" Vanessa assured her best friend. "This kind of thing just doesn't happen, unless your in a teen vampire novel or something."

"Are you trying to tell me you think Edmund's a vampire?"Aria started to laugh. Usually when the two of them began to argue, one of them would say something completely out there and the conversation would end with them joking around.

"Actually, I was thinking more like a werewolf since he's out during the daylight." Now Vanessa began to crack up along with Aria.

Once the girls were done laughing, Aria then said, "Okay, I guess I not exactly in love with him. It just that Edmund's not like other guys so he stood out to me and I think I stood out to him too since I'm not really like other girls. That may be why he chose to get to know me."

Vanessa considered this and commented, "Yeah, I guess it makes more sense when you put it that way. I'm no expert on relationships so the best advice I can give is don't go to fast."

"Don't worry. I won't," Aria assured. "Hey, do you know if Ms. Fleming back yet? I'll bet she would like to know I finally found a boy I'm interested in."

"I don't think so. I haven't seen her in a while."

"Oh well. I'll just tell her whenever she gets back."

"Hey Aria?" Vanessa sounded concerned.

"What is it?"

"We really haven't known Edmund very long. Just be careful, okay?"

"Alright, _Mom,_" Aria rolled her eyes. "Look, I gotta go. I think I heard my actual mom calling me for dinner. See you tomorrow."

"See you!"

xXx

Vanessa still seemed suspicious of Edmund though she tried to hide her concern for her best friend's sake. Walter, on the other hand, welcomed Edmund to the group, enjoying the idea of having another guy as oppose to all girls. The four of them now sat together for lunch.

"So I hear you're taking Aria out to dinner for her birthday. May I ask where?" Walter inquired to Edmund.

"I was thinking about taking her to the Palace Royale," Edmund replied. "I hear its the nicest restaurant in town."

"Wow, Edmund. That's really expensive," Aria commented, surprised by this new information. "You really don't have to do that. I'd be okay with Chiles or even fast food is fine."

"You only turn sixteen once," Edmund responded.

Vanessa chimed in, "You know, Aria usually has a her birthday dinner with her parents and then celebrates with her friends the following weekend."

"Well, this year its going to be different," Aria stated firmly.

"Have you told your parents yet?"

"No, but I'm going to."

"You better do it soon. Your birthday in three days."

Once again, Aria got frustrated with her best friend. "What does it matter when I tell them? Its my birthday! I can do what I want."

Edmund commented, "I think I'm sensing a hint of jealousy."

"What, me?" Vanessa looked at Edmund appalled.

"I think he means behind you," Walter informed as he noticed where Edmund was looking.

Aria and Vanessa both turned their heads to observe Kendal starring daggers at Aria.

Aria rolled her eyes and turned back to Edmund. "I don't know what Kendal's problem is. She already has a boyfriend."

"Actually, I was talking about that boy sitting at her table."

This time when the girls looked, they saw Derek. Aria had never seem him look so furious nor could she imagine a possible reason as of why. Never the less, his angry eyes pointed in her direction or maybe Edmund's. She could not tell. Aria decided best to ignore him.

"If you don't mind my asking, Aria," Edmund seemed to approach this question cautiously. "Do you two have a history together?"

Aria nearly burst out laughing, "What? Me and Derek! No way! Believe me. I am not his type of girl and he most definitely is not my type of guy. Besides, we've only had an actual conversation once."

"When was that?" Vanessa asked. "You never said anything about it."

"Oh," Aria recalled. "It was when Ms. Malone gave us both detention, remember? We just briefly talked about that English assignment we were given about whether we would die for someone we loved. We just had similar answers that's all." Aria then turned to Edmund. "You see, I completely forgot about it until just now so it obviously didn't mean anything."

Edmund sighed, relieved. Aria could not help but smile. For some reason, it seemed nice that Edmund was worried about the idea of her and Derek. It meant that he considered himself in a serious relationship with her. Luckily for Edmund, he had nothing to worry about as far as Derek was concerned.

xXx

"I can't believe this! Who does guy think he is?" Kendal fumed. "And why is he interested in Aria of all people?"

"Where did he even come from?" Derek added. "Who changes schools in September?"

"Will you two give it a rest?" Ian grew tired of his best friend and girlfriend obsessing over this new kid. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that this really cute boy comes to our school and just goes straight to Aria without a second thought."

"Yeah," Derek agreed. "They are acting like they're in a serious relationship and he doesn't even know her!"

Ian looked at him curiously. "Dude, do you like Aria or something?"

"What! No! That's ridiculous!"

"Okay," Ian then turned to Kendal. "And you better not say you like this Edmund guy."

"Of coarse not," Kendal assured him.

"Then you both really need to just chill about this Edmund guy. He has nothing to do with any of us." Ian put his arms around both Kendal and Derek as they headed to their next class and said, "Besides, its about time something interesting happens around here for a change."


	12. Chapter 11 Dangerous Sixteen

_Chapter 11_

_Dangerous Sixteen_

"Aria, time to wake up." Elizabeth knocked on the door and walked in.

Aria, for a change, woke up faster than usual for one particular reason.

"Happy birthday, sweetie!"

"Thanks, Mom." Aria sat up. "Now, could you help me brush my hair, please? I want to look extra nice today."

Normally, Aria wore jeans and a t-shirt to school since she didn't care to spend a lot of extra time on her appearance, not to mention, she was always too sleepy in the morning. Today, however, is different. As Edmund said, you only turn sixteen once. Aria just knew today is going to be the best day of her life.

"Aria."

"Yes, Mom?"

"Your father and I were thinking, maybe you would like to stay home from school today since it's your birthday. We can call in sick for you if you want?"

If her mother had offered this any other day, Aria would be all over it, but not this day. Tonight will be her first official date with Edmund. Aria would not miss that for the world.

"No, Mom. Edmund taking me out for dinner tonight."

"What! Who?"

"Edmund, Mom. Remember, the boy I told you about?"

"Oh, sweetie, not tonight. Your father and I had something special planned for you."

"Can't it wait until I get home? After all, it is my birthday."

"No, Aria! You can't go out today." Elizabeth seemed real stressed out for some reason Aria could not imagine. "Listen to me. I know we can't keep you home from school but I want you to promise me you will come straight home after, okay?"

Now this is getting really weird. Aria wondered why her mother wanted to keep her home so badly today. She had never been like this before on Aria's birthday.

"Aria?"

"Okay, sure," Aria agreed though she secretly planned to go out with Edmund anyway.

As Aria opened the door to go downstairs she overheard her parents.

"I told you, Elizabeth. You should have just let her sleep. By the time she would have woken up, school would be out."

"And what would we have told her when she woke up, Ted? She can already tell something's wrong. Besides, we have no valid reason to keep her home from school." 

"You told her to come straight home?"

"I made her promise. Don't worry. Lets just hope nothing happens."

xXx

Aria told Vanessa everything about that morning as they walked to school.

"It sounds like they think something's after you," Vanessa commented.

"What could that possibly be?"

"Well, hello, birthday girl!" They heard a voice from behind them.

"Ms. Fleming! You're back!" The girls rushed up to her.

"Believe me. It's good to be back. My sisters are rather difficult to be around sometimes. So, anything new?"

Vanessa looked over at Aria, "You wanted to tell her, remember?"

"Tell me what, Aria?"

"Well, I met someone at school recently and, well, we're kind of dating."

"Wonderful!" Ms. Fleming beamed and clapped her hands together. "And just in time, oh, uh, I mean that great! What's his name?"

"Edmund Calloway."

Ms. Fleming seemed less enthused. "Has he always gone to your school?"

"Actually he recently moved," Aria answered

Ms. Fleming suddenly got quiet for a moment then said, "Well, I need to go check on something. Bye girls! Oh, and Aria. Make sure you come straight home after school, okay?"

"Sure," Aria replied then turned to Vanessa. "How did she know my parents said that?"

Vanessa just shrugged.

xXx

This day was absolutely perfect for Aria. No one bothered her for a change, and best of all she got to spend it with Edmund. This had to be Aria's best birthday, ever.

Once school let out Aria remembered to ask Edmund, "Hey, do you think we can go ahead and go out together, now instead of waiting for tonight. You see, my parents told me I had to come straight home and I have a feeling once I'm in my house, I won't be allowed to leave it."

"As you wish," Edmund replied. "After all, today is your special day."

Aria beamed joyfully. Never in her life had she felt so blissful. Aria knew she would remember this day for the rest of her life.

Aria and Edmund shared the most amazing dinner together at the Palace Royale. The servers at this restaurant actually treated their guest like royalty. It was even decorated just as Aria pictured an actual castle with red, velvet banners hanging from the walls, chandeliers from the ceilings, and stained glass windows. It was all so beautiful. Aria felt like a princess and Edmund her prince. Maybe all this time, Ms. Fleming was right about Aria finding Prince Charming.

Aria looked up to Edmund and smiled. "Thank you for all this, Edmund. This has to be the most amazing night of my life!"

"I'm glad you are enjoying it," Edmund responded.

Aria sighed. "I hope I don't get into too much trouble when I get home." 

"You shouldn't worry about that."

"Your right! I should just live in the moment. I deal with them when, I get home. Besides, how ever much trouble I get in, it will be worth it."

Edmund just sat in silence.

"Is something wrong," Aria asked.

"It just…Aria, would you like to come to my house after dinner?"

"Oh, Edmund, I really wish I could, but I better go home after this. My parents will already be mad enough."

"I understand. It's just that I left your present at my house."

"Oh, well, you can give it to me tomorrow." 

"Actually, it's kind of big. I was planning on putting it in my car and driving it to your house."

"My gosh, Edmund! What on earth did you get me? I hope you didn't spend too much money on whatever it is."

"Actually its an antique in my family. There's just not enough room for it in our house and my mother would really like to see it go somewhere nice. It's very beautiful. I think you will like it."

Aria could not help but feel intrigue so she agreed. Besides, she's already out. How much more trouble could she get in?

As they drove to Edmund's house, Aria curiously observed the neighborhood. She had never been to this part of town before. All the homes looked like mansions. Edmund's appeared no different.

"Wow, your house is beautiful," Aria commented.

"Thank you. Now, lets go in so you can see your present."

The inside of Edmund's house looked very similar to the Palace Royale, like a Renaissance castle. Aria admired the banners that hung on the walls. They were all tones of gold and purple.

"Aria, your present is in this room. Come here."

When Aria walked to Edmund he covered her eyes and walked her into the room. Once he removed his hand, Aria saw a golden spinning wheel.

"Wow! This is beautiful, Edmund! How much is this thing worth?"

"It doesn't matter. I would give you the world if I could."

Aria had absolutely no idea what she was going to do with this, but it did not matter to her now. The important fact is that Edmund had given her a family inheritance. That says a great deal about their relationship.

"Would you like to touch it?" Edmund asked.

Aria was thrown off guard by this question, but answered, "Um, alright, sure."

With Edmund's hand on top of hers, Aria stroked the spinning wheel until… "Ouch!"

"Are you okay, Aria?"

"Yeah," Aria glanced at her hand. "I just pricked my finger."

"Let me see." Edmund took hold of Aria's hand and kissed her bleeding finger. "Does it feel better?"

"I, uh," Aria felt woozy. "Edmund, something is wrong."

The dizziness became worse and worse. Aria felt as if the entire room was spinning. She lost balance of her feet. Aria continued to feel dizzy for another moment and then… nothing.


	13. Chapter 12 Where's Aria?

_Chapter 12_

_Where's Aria?_

Derek, who had only been awake for a few minutes, sleepily reached the scrambled eggs and bacon his mother left out for him. He'd always wake up only moments before it was time to leave for school.

_Beep. Beep._

He glanced out the front window and saw Ian in his red convertible waiting. Realizing he had to go, Derek put the rest of his eggs on a piece of toast and went out to his ride.

"Hey, man. What's up?" Derek greeted.

"Hey! Not much," Ian replied. When saw that Derek brought his breakfast in the car he added, "Be careful with that, man. Kendal gets pretty mad when I make a mess in here."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Dude? This is your car, not Kendal's."

"I know, but I drive her to places a lot in this car. She says she would prefer it clean."

"Whatever, man."

When the two boys arrived at school, Derek observed something interesting. "Hey, Cooper's all by herself today."

Everyday, they would see Aria Rosenberg and Vanessa Cooper arrive at the school together. Derek couldn't help but feel curious. Ever since he had known Aria, she had never missed a day of school.

"Maybe Rosenberg's with that Calloway kid," Ian suggested. "They seem to be getting pretty serious."

"I still can't believe how fast she fell for his cheesy tactics. I always thought Aria was the kind of girl that had more sense."

This time Ian was the one to roll his eyes. "Dude, you've got to let this whole Edmund thing go. Even Kendal's dropped it. Also, you keep making it harder and harder to believe you're not into Aria."

"I don't like Aria!"

"Sure, whatever, man."

xXx

By lunchtime, there was still not sign of Aria. As Derek walked over to his usual table, he noticed Vanessa Cooper heading towards the exit. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on with her and Aria. Vanessa had looked concerned all day. Derek wondered if she was going to go to Aria. For some reason even he did not understand, Derek had to find out. He suddenly had an idea.

As Derek approached Ian, sitting alone at their table he asked, "Hey man, can I borrow your car?"

"Um, sure. Why?"

"I, uh, left my English homework at home and was going to sneak off during lunch to get it."

Ian looked utterly puzzled. "We didn't have any English homework."

"Sure we did, remember? We were suppose to, um, write a poem about something important to us."

"Man, I can't pay attention to that Mr. Stone guy, he's so dull. I didn't even know we were doing poetry." He threw Derek his car keys and said, "I guess I better get working on that now. Just be careful with the car. Kendal…."

"Yeah sure, man."

Derek sighed as he ran to the car. He hated using his best friend's lack of intelligence to his advantage, but he could not think of another way. He definitely did not want to admit he felt concerned about Aria. At least he does not take advantage of Ian as often as Kendal does.

As Derek drove up to where Vanessa walked he lightly tapped the horn and asked, "Do you need a lift?"

Vanessa just starred at him bewildered.

Derek continued, "You're going to Aria's, right?"

This time she responded, "Yeah, what's it to you?"

"You'll get there faster if I drive you."

"That doesn't answer my question. Why do you care?"

"I'm just, well…" Derek had no idea what to say so he decided to go with the closest thing to the truth. "I guess I'm a bit concerned. We both know Aria has never missed a day of school."

Vanessa got in the car and said, "Alright, fine, but you better take me straight to Aria's. I can't believe I'm doing this."

"So when did you last see her?" Derek asked as they drove off.

"Yesterday at school. She left with Edmund after that. I think he was going to take her somewhere nice for her birthday."

"Edmund," Derek said the same darkly. "Do you think he did something to her?"

"I don't know. When I went to her house this morning, no one answered. I was actually planning to trying Ms. Fleming, now."

"Who's Ms. Fleming?"

"Our neighbor. For some reason, I have a feeling she knows something about Edmund. You should have seen the look on her face when Aria first told her about him. It was as if she was worried about something."

"Alright then. Lets go to this Ms. Fleming person."

When Vanessa and Derek reached Ms. Fleming's house, Vanessa ran up to the front door and began knocking furiously.

Ms. Fleming answered. "Oh, hello Vanessa."

Vanessa did not waste any time with greetings. "Aria's missing. I think Edmund did something to her."

"I know," Ms. Fleming answered sadly, "and I know where she most likely is, too. It's just that, well there's no one too…" she stopped when she saw Derek and demanded, "Who is this boy?"

"I'm Derek, Derek James. I, uh, drove her hear to help her look for Aria."

Ms. Fleming looked at him with wonder. "If you're concerned enough about Aria to come looking for her then you just might be," she paused, "the one."

"What do you mean?" Derek looked over to Vanessa, but she appeared just as confused by what this woman was saying.

"No time to explain now. Come on, we're going to rescue Aria!"

Ms. Fleming ran to Ian's car then demanded, "Now, which one of you is driving?"

"Me," Derek answered still confused, "But where are we going?"

"Just get in and start the car and I will tell you exactly where to go."

Derek looked to Vanessa while she just shrugged and followed Ms. Fleming. Vanessa strongly believed that Ms. Fleming really did know where Aria is now and there's still the possibility that she is Aria's birthmother. Vanessa made a mental note to ask her when she gets the chance. For now, she figured it's just best to do what Ms. Fleming says.

The three drove to downtown Norfolk to a deserted building that neither Derek nor Vanessa ever noticed before now.

"It's locked," Vanessa declared as she tried to open the door.

"Never mind that," Ms. Fleming moved Vanessa out of the way, pulled out her wand and tapped the door. It then opened.

Derek began to ask, "How did you…"

"Now is not the time for questions," said Ms. Fleming impatiently. "Just come on in and get in the fountain."

"Why do we need to get in the fountain?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, the water looks kind of filthy," Vanessa added.

"Don't worry about that. Just get in!"

At the same time, Vanessa and Derek stepped into the fountain. They felt something suddenly pull them down and then push them back up. When it was over, they realized they had been pushed out of a lake but somehow still dry.

"This is weird," Derek commented.

Vanessa did not even know what to say. This place seemed so unreal, almost like a dream, but Vanessa felt sure she was awake.

Only moments later, Ms. Fleming came out of the lake. Just like Vanessa and Derek, the water appeared not to have touched her.

"Well, Vanessa, Derek," Ms. Fleming beamed. "Welcome to Galatia! By the way, you can call me Adora."


	14. Chapter 13 Rescuing the Princess

_Chapter 13_

_Rescuing the Princess_

"So let me get this straight," Derek analyzed as Adora finished explaining Aria's situation, "Aria is suppose to be like Sleeping Beauty or some kind of fairy tale princess, right?" 

"Yes, well, that's your world's interpretation of the story," Adora answered.

"And I'm the one who is suppose to kiss her to wake her up?"

"Precisely."

"Wait a minute," Vanessa interjected. "Isn't a prince supposed to kiss her?"

"Oh no, dear. It doesn't have to be a prince. I know your version of the story says so, but my spell specified that it only has to be true love's kiss and Aria will awaken."

"What makes you think I'm Aria's true love?" Derek demanded.

"Trust me, I can tell. I must say, in your world, love works in very strange ways, but all in all, it is still the same," Adora replied dreamily.

Vanessa still was not finished asking questions. "What about Edmund? Was he actually the witch in disguise?"

"No, no, darling. Edmund is just one of Myrtle's minions. She just calls him Ed. He's not really as handsome as he appeared. She must have used her magic on him to make him seem charming."

"She did a good job," Derek grumbled. "Aria was all over him."

"Aria just liked him because he was actually nice to her," Vanessa rose to her best friend's defense. "Unlike some people."

"Hey, I was never mean to her. I just joked around with her for something to do."

"So the only reason you tormented Aria was because you were bored?"

"What can I say? High school is a pretty dull place, especially Sheerwood. Besides, don't you think torment is kind of a strong word for what I would do to her? God! Why are girls always so dramatic?"

"That's enough you two!" Adora interrupted. "We're just about there."

The three continued to walk along the pathway with Adora leading the way. Vanessa and Derek decided best to walk in silence as opposed to bickering. Instead, observed their surroundings. Everything in this world seemed so unreal. The grass and trees were unnaturally green. The flowers blossomed more elaborate and colorful than either of them had ever seen back home.

Vanessa then remembered she still had not finished asking Adora questions. "So Aria's real parents are the king and queen of whatever this place is, right? Are you related in Aria in any way?"

Adora answered, "Aria's parents are the king and queen of Galatia but, no, I am not a relative of hers. I'm just one of the fairies that gave her a magical gift for her first birthday celebration. My gift to Aria was actually what saved her life."

"Okay, how is this not like Sleeping Beauty?" Derek wondered aloud.

Vanessa was the one who answered, "Because Sleeping Beauty did not mention anything about high school and in the fairy tale the princess was rescued by a prince, not some jerk jock."

Derek opened his mouth to retaliate when…

"We're here!" Adora announced cheerfully as they approached a small cottage.

"I thought Aria would be in a castle or tower or something," Vanessa commented.

"She is, but we have to stop by the wizard's place first to make sure we have everything we need."

An old man with a long grey beard came out of the cottage.

"Who's that supposed to be, Dumbledore?" Derek asked.

"I'm thinking more like Merlin," Vanessa commented.

"No, that's…" Adora thought for a second. "Oh, I can never remember his name. Let's see, I think it started with a g…"

"Gandalf?" Vanessa suggested.

"No, no. It was a rather unusual name," Adora continued to ponder until she remembered, "GREG! That's the one!"

"Greg? What's so unusual about Greg?" Derek asked.

"It's not a very common name in this world," Adora replied.

"Adora!" the wizard, Greg, beamed. "How wonderful it is to see you or any fairy for that matter. None of you ever come by anymore."

"Yes, well, I have been watching over the Princess Aria, though unfortunately Myrtle still managed to get to her. Greg, we need your help."

"Oh, Adora, my dear. I'm afraid there's not much I can do. You see, Myrtle's got the princess in an old deserted castle guarded by a dragon."

"Wait a minute," Derek cut in. "Did you say… dragon?"

"Yes, my boy. I'm afraid so," Greg answered. "Only what's most deadly and dangerous for Myrtle. I wouldn't dare go up against her."

"There must be some way you can help us," Adora pleaded. "Anything."

"Let's see," Greg rummaged around through his supplies. "There may be something I can give you to help with the dragon problem."

Greg pulled out a small pipe. Vanessa and Derek both stared at it curiously wondering how a pipe would help them against a dragon. The wizard then muttered a quick enchantment causing the pipe to form into a large silver sword that glowed. Both Derek's and Vanessa's jaws dropped in amazement of what they just saw.

"Here you go, young lad," Greg held the glowing sword to Derek. "This will help you against the dragon.

Instead of taking the sword as Greg expected, Derek backed away and said, "Hold on a second. I'm not going to fight any dragon. I'm sorry, but I don't have a death wish."

"You're just going to let her die!" Vanessa shouted at him.

"She's not dying. She's just sleeping," Derek shot back. "Besides, Aria likes to sleep a lot anyway, doesn't she?"

"How do you even know that about her?" Vanessa demanded.

"Hey, I've known Aria almost as long as you have. I remember in kindergarten, the teacher would always have a hard time waking her up after nap time."

Vanessa looked at him surprised. "I forgot about that."

"You see," Adora chimed in. "Derek, you and Aria have this special bond that neither of you are aware of. You _are_ the one who is meant to save her."

"I wouldn't go as far to say that," Derek argued. "Just because you've known someone a long time doesn't mean you're in love with them."

"Yes, but you remember little things like that about her, not to mention you felt concern about her when she went missing," Adora said firmly.

"I'm still not fighting a dragon," Derek declared stubbornly.

"Fine!" Vanessa suddenly said angrily. "If you won't fight the dragon then I will." She reached her hand out to Greg. "Let me have that sword."

The whole room just stared at her in silence until Adora said, "Oh darling, I don't know about that."

Vanessa breathed more calmly and continued, "Look. Your spell only says that Aria's true love has to kiss her. It doesn't say anything about how he has to be the one to actually rescue her. How about I slay the dragon and then Derek goes in and kisses Aria?"

Adora and Greg exchanged glances then Adora said, "Well, I don't see why not. Greg, go ahead and give this brave young woman the sword."

Just as the wizard begun to hand the sword to Vanessa, Derek interrupted, "Wait," he paused. "I'll do it. I'll slay the dragon."

Both Vanessa and Adora smiled at him and Greg handed the shining sword to Derek instead. Just as Derek's hands touched the sword, it lost its glow and appeared as a regular sword.

"Well, that's encouraging," Derek said, sarcastically.

"Don't worry. It happens to all guys," Vanessa joked.

Derek glared at her while Greg reached back for the sword and said, "That's odd. Let me see if I can fix it."

When Greg once again held the sword it returned to its glowing state. "Ah! Here you go."

But when Derek held it again, it went back to looking like a regular sword. It had the same effect when Vanessa held it, but the sword did glow for Adora.

Greg scratched his head. "I'm not sure what's wrong with it."

"Oh, we don't have time for this!" Adora declared impatiently. "As long as the sword is sharp, it will pierce the heart of the dragon. Come on, you two. Let's go. Good bye, Greg, and thank you!"

"Are you sure it's okay?" Derek asked concerned while holding the plain sword.

"Yes, I'm sure," Adora assured him.

The three left the wizard's home and made their way to the castle where Aria slept. When they arrived, they observed a dark, gloomy, palace, guarded by a dragon almost as tall as the castle itself.

"Well, this is your time," Adora looked to Derek. "Are you ready?"

"Does he really have to go alone?" Vanessa asked nervously.

"Don't worry. I'll be alright." Oddly enough, Derek felt calmer and more confident. "Besides, this is fairy tale world. Doesn't this place always get happy endings?"

Adora nodded but Vanessa said, "Let's just hope mixing our world into it doesn't mess things up. Good Luck!"

Vanessa gave him a quick hug while Adora patted him on the back and smiled gratefully. Derek then made his way to the castle hoping to find Aria and not get incinerated in the process.

The dragon let out a blaze of fire as it saw Derek. Luckily, Derek was able to dodge the flames. His heart raced rapidly with fear. He wasn't sure exactly how he was supposed to slay this dragon. Derek feared that if he attempted to throw the sword at its heart, he would miss and then be without a weapon. Grasping the sword, Derek ran towards the entrance to the castle.

Derek noticed the walls of the castle were unaffected by the dragon's fire. He figured he would be safe inside so he entered. Finally reaching safety, Derek took a moment to catch his breath. He decided he might as well go ahead and look for Aria and deal with the dragon later.

Derek searched throughout the castle, but every room was empty. Then a thought occurred to him. Aria could be in the highest room in the tallest tower. That sounds like something that would be in a fairy tale.

As it turns out, Derek was right. When he finished marching up the stairs of the tallest tower in the castle, he finally found Aria. She wore a dazzling golden gown and a small diamond tiara. Derek had never noticed her beauty until now.

Derek walked slowly to the bed where Aria slept knowing what he must now do.

_Well, here goes, _Derek though as he bent over and gently planted a kiss on Aria's lips.


	15. Chapter 14 Waking Up in Another World

_Chapter 14_

_Waking Up in Another World_

"Edmund?" Aria felt his lips gently press against hers. She smiled as she opened her eyes only to see that the person hovering over her was not Edmund.

"Derek! What are you doing here?"

"It's alright, Aria. I can explain…"

Aria didn't give him a chance to go on. "What is going on here? Is this your idea of a joke?"

"No! Of coarse not! Its just…"

"Then why am I in some place I have never seen before wearing some fancy dress, and where is Edmund?"

"Just forget about Edmund and let me finish." Derek was getting pretty sick of hearing that name.

"Did you do something to him? What were your planning on doing with me?"

"I swear I was just saving you, that's it. I had to kiss you to wake you up. I'd really like to do something to Edmund, something painful," Derek said darkly.

"Where is Edmund?" Aria demanded furiously.

"I have no idea and I really don't care."

"Whatever," Aria walked towards the door. "I don't know what kind of sick prank you think your playing but I'm out of here."

Derek quickly jumped up and grabbed Aria's arm. "Wait, you can't leave!"

"Why not?" Aria demanded.

"Because there's a dragon outside," Derek replied weekly.

Aria just starred at him in disbelief and then continued on to the door.

Derek pleaded on, "If you don't believe me then just look out the window."

"Fine." Aria pulled the curtains to find that Derek was indeed telling the truth. There it sat, waiting for them to leave with its metallic scales shimmering in the sunlight.

"This can't be happening." Aria felt as though she could faint all over again.

"Don't worry, Aria. It's going to be okay. You see. This is kind of like a fairy tale world and your Sleeping Beauty and according to your neighbor, and she says I'm the one who is suppose to save you."

Aria just stood there in silence, no believing a single word Derek said. This was all just too bizarre.

Derek, growing more excited, went on, "This will be great! Look! This wizard made me a magic sword from a pipe. All we have to do now is get out of here and I'll slay the dragon and then I'll be kind of like the hero who rescues the princess in this world and… um, Aria, why are you going back to bed?"

Aria pulled up the covers and stated, "This is obviously just some crazy messed up dream I'm having. I'm going back to sleep and when I wake up, I will be in my house, in my own bed, and probably grounded for sneaking off with Edmund and disobeying my parents."

"Aria," Derek walked over to her and knelt beside the bed. "Look, I know you just woke up in this place and this all seems really strange but you got to believe me, its real."

Aria had before had dreams that seemed as though they were really happening but they never felt like this. Her senses were quite alive. Derek's touch, the air she breathed, and everything around her all felt too real to be a dream. Aria did not know what else to do but take Derek's hand and follow him out of the castle.

As the two of them headed towards the exit, Aria asked fearfully, "Derek, what are we going to do about that dragon out there?"

"Well, the wizard gave me this sword," Derek said though he still appeared pretty nervous. "I guess I'm supposed to slay the dragon with it. The only thing is that for some reason, the sword glowed when the wizard and Adora held it, but not for me or Vanessa."

"Vanessa's here?"

"Yeah, she was the one who wanted to go out looking for you in the first place."

"And she thought she would try a different universe?"

Derek laughed. "Actually, it was your neighbor. I think she's actually from here."

"You mean Ms. Fleming?"

"Yeah, well, she told us to call her Adora."

Aria wanted to ask where Edmund was and if he was apart of this world as well, but she had a feeling that would only upset Derek. After all, it was Derek that came to her rescue, not Edmund. Aria felt a throbbing pain in her heart. Was Edmund the one that put her here in the first place? After all, he was the last person she saw before she fainted. Edmund wouldn't lock her in a dragon-guarded tower, would he?

"Hey, are you alright?" Derek noticed Aria's upset expression.

"Yeah, its just that…"

"Don't worry. I think the dragon is on the other side of the castle. If we're quick, maybe we can escape to where Adora and Vanessa are without the dragon noticing us."

Derek then grabbed Aria hand and asked, "Are you ready?"

Putting her thoughts of Edmund to the back of her mind, Aria nodded, "Let's go."

Derek and Aria moved quickly but quietly towards the gates. Unfortunately, the dragon was still able to spot them. It let out a fiery flame right in their direction.

"Get down!" Derek threw himself over Aria, shielding her, as they fell to the ground.

Aria could feel her entire body shaking with fear. Never in her life had she been this terrified of anything. She would much rather be giving an impromptu speech in front of the whole school right now, her old greatest fear before this.

"Aria," Derek instructed as he helped her up. "Run to gates as fast as you can. Adora and Vanessa are there waiting. I'll stay and try to slay the dragon."

This is insane. Aria knew there was no way she could just leave Derek here to fight this beast alone. Unfortunately, she had no idea what she could do to help.

Derek seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Go, Aria! Trust me. It would be better if you left."

Aria started to move towards the gates. When she looked back over her shoulder, she was horrified to see that the dragon's fire had knocked Derek completely over. The sword fell from his hand in her direction.

Aria ran to pick up the sword. The moment her hand touched it, the sword began to glow a shining silver light. Startled, Aria dropped it. But when she saw the dragon open its mouth to let out more fire, Aria once again grabbed the magic sword and thrust it at the dragon, piercing its heart. The dragon, slain, fell to the ground letting out its last breath of smoke.

Aria then rushed over to where Derek had fallen. "Derek! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it just burnt my arm a little. No big deal," Derek replied sitting up. Then he looked over at the dragon's lifeless body. "Wow, Aria, you did it! You slew the dragon!"

"I guess it was a lucky shot," Aria replied as she helped Derek up.

She even surprised herself. Normally in gym, her aim sucked. Maybe the sword's glowing had something to do with it.

"We should probably get that before we go." Derek pointed to the sword still in the dragon, blood oozing out.

"I don't want to go near it. Blood freaks me out," Aria said as she backed away.

"Seriously? You just killed a dragon and now your afraid of a little blood?"

Aria just nodded not quite sure how to defend her logic.

"Girls," Derek muttered as he rolled his eyes and went to get the sword.

Aria noticed that now when Derek held the sword, it appeared normal. "Why does that sword sometimes glow?"

"I don't know. It glowed when Adora and that wizard guy held it, but not for Vanessa and me. Maybe you have to be born in this world for it to work."

"But I wasn't born here." Aria still had a difficult time accepting all this. "I couldn't have been."

"According to the fairy lady, you were."

"Ms. Fleming, I mean Adora?" Aria then remembered something, her original theory. "Did she say anything about being my real mother?"

Derek looked at her curiously as they walked to the gates and replied, "No, I don't think so. She said your parents are the king and queen of this place. I guess that makes you a Princess."

"So I suppose I really am Sleeping Beauty."

"Apparently so. Though, things really aren't happening exactly like in the story. That witch that wants to kills you is probably still out there unfortunately. Hopefully, your fairy neighbor will know how to deal her."

As Derek and Aria approached the gates, they found Adora unconscious. Above her, was a note nailed the gate.

"Where's Vanessa?" Aria exclaimed. "You said she was here too!"

"Aria, you might want to take a look at this." Derek tore the note off the gate and passed it to Aria.

_Princess Aria, _

_I have your friend. If you want to see her again, come to my tower, alone._

_Myrtle_

_Ps. you might remember me as Ms. Malone._


	16. Chapter 15 The Truth About Aria

_Chapter 15_

_The Truth About Aria_

"Ms. Fleming! Ms. Fleming, wake up!" Aria gently shook Adora but was unable not to sound frantic.

"Aria," Adora opened her eyes to see the princess kneeling above her. "You're okay!"

"Yes, but Vanessa's not." Aria showed her the note Myrtle left.

"Oh, dear," Adora starred at the note horrified. "We'll have to go get help. I can't let you go to Myrtle alone. She's too dangerous."

"But the note says if I want to save Vanessa, I have to come alone," Aria protested. "What if Ms. Malone, I mean Myrtle does something to her!"

"If you go by yourself, you would have fallen right into Myrtle's trap. Who knows what she'll do to you then. We'll go to the kingdom to get help and you'll be safe with your family."

"We don't have time for that!" Aria could not bear the thought of hiding out in a palace while her best friend was in danger.

"What if I went with her for backup?" Derek suggested. "I can hide so Myrtle doesn't see me and then take her by surprise or something like that."

Adora still was not satisfied. "No. You two are just teenagers. I'm won't allow you to go up against the most dangerous witch in Galatia."

"We did just slay a dragon," Derek reminded her.

"Trust me. That's nothing compared to what fighting Myrtle will be like," Adora cautioned. "No more arguing. I want you two to follow me."

Adora then looked at Aria's concerned face sympathetically and said, "Don't worry. I promise you we will save Vanessa. All we need is a strong enough force to take on Myrtle. Once I find my sister fairies, we'll find a way."

"Are these the sisters you would always visit when you went away?" Aria asked.

"Yes," Adora nodded. "I'm sorry I never told you about any of this. I thought it would be better in order to protect you and let you live a relatively normal life. I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

Aria did have many questions she wanted to ask her lifetime neighbor about all this, but one particular subject concerned her more at the moment. Aria knew the story of Sleeping Beauty so she was aware that it was true love's kiss that would awaken her so she had to ask, "What about Edmund? Why wasn't he the one to rescue me?"

Before Adora could answer, Derek commented annoyed, "Of coarse you ask about him. He was the first thing that came to your mind after I kissed you."

"That's because he was the last person I remember seeing before all this!" Aria retorted.

"And you don't think that it was because of him you are here in the first place? Instead you believe that he should have been the one to rescue you instead of me!"

"Myrtle was the one that did this to me, not Edmund!"

The two of them were practically shouting at each other so Adora could not interject.

"Well, I guess I'm not good enough for you compared to your perfect prince, Edmund!"

"Edmund was the first guy to actually act like a gentleman around me!" Aria then began to remember exactly why she used to hate Derek. "You actually expect me to think you're the one for me instead of Edmund after the way you treated me all these years? You've tormented me ever since we met in elementary school!"

Derek rolled his eyes. "Here we go again with the tormenting thing. That's exactly what Vanessa said. Why don't you two go and start an 'I hate Derek' club?"

"You know what? Maybe we will," Aria shot back. "And I bet we will get a lot of members."

"That's enough, you two!" Adora shouted silencing them. "That's no way for true loves to talk with one another."

"True love!" Aria asked bewildered.

"Yeah, true loves don't say someone else's name after their supposed loved one kisses them," Derek added.

"Enough about Edmund!" Adora continued. "You two both need to just forget about him. The Edmund you knew is not even real."

"What do you mean?" Aria demanded.

"Oh, darling," Adora sighed. "There is a lot I need to explain to you. And I don't want any more interruptions." She shot a look at Derek.

Derek, not wanting to hear any more about Edmund, decided it was best just to walk several paces behind Aria and Adora so he wouldn't get fumed up again.

"Edmund, actually just Ed, works for Myrtle. He's her most devoted minion," Adora explained to Aria. "She sent him to your world to lure you to the spinning wheel."

So it was true. Edmund was responsible for her getting locked in a castle guarded by a dragon. Aria felt as though a knife pierced her heart.

Aria decided she didn't want to talk about Edmund anymore. There is still much for her to learn. She went on, "According to this note, Myrtle is actually Ms. Malone, our English substitute, but she only was there for a day. Why would she come to my school for only a day?"

"I'm sure she just wanted to locate you. I can't see Myrtle wanting to hang around with a bunch of teenagers."

Aria remembered the conversation she had with Ms. Malone, or Myrtle. "I guess it was my birthday celebration she told me she didn't get invited to. I actually felt sorry for her at the time because I know what it feels like to be left out." Aria paused and then asked, "Why didn't Myrtle get invited?"

"Oh, sweetie. Myrtle is quite well known for her mind tricks. It wasn't as if she became evil just because she didn't get an invitation to a grand celebration. We knew she already enjoyed practicing dark magic."

"Don't you think she still would have tried to kill me if she did receive an invitation?"

"Myrtle tried to kill you by giving you death as her gift. You see. It is a fairy's job to bestow gifts to royal newborn babies. And no, I don't think Myrtle would have given you death had she invited, but I assure you, she would not have given you a very pleasant gift."

"Was your gift the one that saved my life?" Aria recalled the fairy tale story.

"Yes, dear. It was," Adora replied.

They were silent for a moment while Aria absorbed all this. She then asked, "So what were you planning on giving me before Myrtle interfered, Adora?"

"Intelligence even though according to Verna, the head fairy, that's not appropriate for a princess."

"Intelligence," Aria said as she thought about this. "That would have really helped me out in school. What did Verna give me?"

"Her gift was the gift of poise," Adora replied rolling her eyes.

"Poise?" Aria could not help but laugh. "That's so lame."

"My thoughts exactly. You have Freya to thank for your beauty."

"Beauty." Aria never thought of herself as beautiful, though that was because she would always compare herself to the other girls in school.

"Yes, she made it so your hair would always be long and golden and your skin fair."

"So she's the reason I can't get a tan or even cut my hair," Aria grumbled.

"Precisely," Adora answered. "Your poor parents were quite shocked when you were little and they took you to get your hair cut. It immediately grew back overnight. That was when I knew I had to tell them the truth about you."

"So they knew this whole time. I guess that explains their behavior on my sixteenth birthday. They originally wanted me to stay home from school."

"That may have helped, but I have a feeling Myrtle would have still found a way to get to you."

"It seems like you were the fairy with the good gift. Too bad you had to go last."

"Yes, too bad," Adora laughed. "Though Thelma's gift was good. She was the one who gave you the gift of music."

Aria smiled. "I do like playing the flute."

"Good. Thelma will be glad to hear that. She loves music. She did have to make it so it would attract a suitable man in order to satisfy Verna."

"That doesn't really work in high school. No one wants to date a band geek."

"I think you'd be surprised," Adora smiled as she looked back at Derek.

Aria had forgotten he was behind them. When she looked back at Derek she remembered their fight and how angry she was with him.

"Adora?"

"Yes, Aria?"

"Did your spell really specify that it had to be true love's kiss to awaken me?"

"It sure did."

Aria still could not accept Derek as her true love. "Are you sure? I mean, you should see what he's like in school."

"Well, love does work quite differently you your world than it does here, but I can tell he really does care for you. After all, he did risk his life to save you."

Then realization hit Aria. Derek could have died trying to get past the dragon to get to her. He knew what he was up against when he saw the dragon, yet he still came for her. Aria felt terribly guilty. After Derek had rescued her, all she did was go on and on about Edmund. Of coarse that would upset him.

Aria sighed and told Adora, "I guess I should probably talk to him."

"That's fine, dear. I need to think of a way to contact my sisters with magic since I've never tried on my own before. Just make sure you too keep following me."

Aria nodded as she hung back to walk with Derek.

As Derek walked up to her he asked, "So did figure out what you wanted to know about your boyfriend?"

"Edmund is not my boyfriend," Aria stated firmly.

"So Adora told you he's really ugly, huh?"

"She didn't mention that. She just told me Myrtle sent him to trick me." Aria was determined not to start another fight with Derek. "Look, I never got a chance to thank you for, you know, saving my life."

"Don't mention it. Besides, you saved mine too so we're even."

Aria still was not satisfied. "Why did you save me? I remember in English you said you would never risk your life for a woman. What changed your mind or do you just think I'm hot?"

Derek laughed remembering that English class when he said that. "To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure. I guess I'd never forgive myself if I just left you there. Also, I remember you said you'd never give up your life for someone else either yet you stayed behind to help me fight the dragon instead of run away. That's risking your life, too."

He has a point, Aria thought to herself then said, "I suppose nobody knows how he or she would act in a situation until they are actually in it. I guess I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just ran and left you alone with that dragon."

"Yeah, about that, when we get back to Norfolk do you think we can tell people I killed the dragon?" Derek asked jokingly.

Aria replied, "When we get back you can tell people whatever you want. I'll be sure to visit you in whatever mental institution they put you in."

They both laughed and continued to follow Adora. Derek then suddenly felt a pain in his arm.

"Are you alright?" Aria asked concerned.

"Its nothing. Just where the dragon burnt me. I'm sure it will stop in a minute."

Aria took a look at his arm and exclaimed, "Derek, it looks twice as big as it did before!" She then called, "Adora! Please come over here."

"Did you two finally work things out…?" She then saw Derek's arm. "Oh, Derek, you didn't tell me the dragon got you. Dragon burns must be treated immediately or they'll just keep growing across the skin!"

"What do we do?" Aria demanded.

Adora responded, "We'll have to go back to Greg's so he can treat it."

"Who's Greg?"

"He's the wizard of Galatia."

"Just picture Dumbledore," Derek added.

The three made their way back to the wizard's cottage. Luckily for Derek, Greg was able to treat him and he was now in the process of recovering. Greg and Adora stood in the kitchen discussing how they planned to deal with Myrtle.

Aria knew what she must do. She looked over at Derek asleep on the couch from the medicine and smiled. She felt truly glad to see that he would be okay. As she walked beside him she gently kissed his forehead and whispered goodbye. Aria took the sword from his side careful not to awaken him and left to take on Myrtle one on one.


	17. Chapter 16 The Witch Versus the Princess

_Chapter 16_

_The Witch Versus the Princess_

Oddly, Aria seemed to know exactly where she was going. She figured it must be something about this world. Normally, if she were in unfamiliar territory, Aria would almost always find herself lost.

Firmly gripping the magic sword, Aria took in a deep breath as she approached Myrtle's tower. She desperately hoped Vanessa was unharmed.

Aria wondered how evil Myrtle really is or how people even became evil in this world. Are they just born that way? According to Adora, Myrtle had been evil long before her birthday celebration, but exactly how long? Aria could not help but feel curious of how Myrtle went from being a gift-giving fairy to what she is now, an evil witch.

As Aria entered Myrtle's tower, she remembered the real reason she came, to rescue Vanessa. Her plan seemed quite simple; find Vanessa and make sure they both get out alive. Unfortunately, Aria had a feeling it would be much more challenging than that. Aria could not help but think how easy the princess had it in the fairy tale story of _Sleeping Beauty_. All she had to do was sleep and get rescued. Once the kissed her, all her problems were solved. Both the dragon and witch were already defeated and she lived happily ever after with her prince. Aria, on the other hand, had to deal with the dragon and now the witch, and honestly, she had absolutely no idea what will happen between her and Derek.

Aria walked slowly down the dark hallway of the tower. She wasn't sure whether or not to call Vanessa. She didn't want Myrtle to know she's here, but at the same time, Aria had a feeling that she could not avoid a confrontation with Myrtle. Aria just hoped this magic sword would be enough against her.

"Why hello Princess," a man's voice sneered from behind her.

_ So much for finding Vanessa without being seen,_ Aria thought. She turned around to see a plump little man. _Could this be…?_

"Who are you?" demanded Aria even though she had a feeling she knew exactly who this man was.

"You don't recognize the man you once swore you loved," Myrtle jested as she came out from the shadows. "Let me show you."

Myrtle pointed her wand at this man and he transformed into whom Aria remembered as Edmund. As she starred into his dazzling eyes, Aria remembered how she once was in love with him. Now, however, she felt nothing.

Aria raised her sword and looked coldly at Myrtle. "Where's Vanessa?"

"Oh don't worry, I brought her along." Myrtle pulled a candlestick that hung on the wall. At the moment the wall turned and Vanessa appeared chained to the other side.

The second she saw Aria, Vanessa eyes lit up. "Aria, you're okay! Derek actually did it."

"She's okay for now," Myrtle commented dangerously as she approached Aria. "We'll see how long that last."

Aria just starred at Myrtle in disbelief. "Are you really going to kill me just because my parents didn't invite you to my birthday celebration. Do you know how many parties I've never been invited to? Not once did it ever cross my mind to actually kill someone over it."

"Fool! This isn't just about your little party. This is about my revenge on the entire kingdom!" Myrtle looked dangerously in Aria's direction and raised her wand. "Now, Princess. Time to finish what I started."

With a wave of her wand, Myrtle shot out a lightning beam strait towards Aria. Luckily, Aria was able to block it with her sword. The very moment the lightning made contact with the sword, it simply dissolved.

Aria starred at the sword surprised at its power. She looked at Myrtle glad to see that she appeared just as shocked.

"Ed!" Myrtle demanded. "Get that sword from her!"

Ed lunged at Aria, but she quickly dodged out of his path causing him to clumsily slam into wall knocking himself unconscious.

"Ed, get up now!" Myrtle commanded of him.

With Ed still unable to rise to her assistance, Myrtle had no choice but to continue this battle on her own. Aria, who had not a spare moment to free Vanessa, stood her ground, also forced to fight alone.

Determined to end this quickly, Myrtle threw everything she could at Aria. Spells of both fire and lightning were shot in Aria's direction. However, as long as Aria had the sword forged by the wizard Greg, Myrtle's enchantments were useless.

After a half hour went by, Myrtle finally realized that so long as the princess held the sword, her powers would do her no good.

Grasping the sword, Aria approached Myrtle. Still not willing to accept her defeat, Myrtle let out from her want one final blast of lightning. This time when Aria blocked it, the lightning bounced off the sword and retracted back to Myrtle. Unable to act fast enough, Myrtle found herself slammed against the wall, her wand falling out of her reach.

Trying to make herself appear as threatening as possible, Aria pointed the sword at Myrtle's chest and gritted, "You're finished Myrtle."

"What are you going to do now, Your Highness, kill me?" Myrtle looked at Aria with her daring eyes.

As tempted as she felt considering Myrtle did try to kill her when she was just an infant, Aria still could not bring herself to do it.

Quickly grabbing Myrtle's wand, Aria shook her head and stated, "No, Myrtle. I'm not like you. I'm not the kind of person who goes out and takes revenge on everyone who wrongs me."

Aria continued, "Myrtle, I, Princess Aria, here by banish you from the Kingdom of Galatia without your magic. Leave, now."

Without another word, Myrtle disappeared never to return. Aria the immediately went to free her best friend.

Aria raised the sword, ready to cut the chains. "Now, I know I don't normally have very good aim, but I did manage to slay a dragon with this thing so…"

"Aria, wait, wait!" Vanessa stopped her. "Not that I don't trust you, but there's a key over on that counter."

"Oh, okay." Aria didn't blame her.

The second Vanessa was released, the two friends hugged each other tightly, neither of them wanting to let the other go.

Finally after letting go, Vanessa said, "Oh my God, I was so worried. I didn't know if Derek actually would make it to you or if his kiss would even work or if… wait a minute, was it Derek's kiss that woke you up?"

Aria nodded, "Yes."

"So does that mean you two are really in love?"

"I don't know about that," Aria sighed "Besides, I kind of ruined the moment by saying Edmund's name as I woke up."

"Yikes," Vanessa commented and then looked over to Ed as her awakened and stood up. "What are we going to do with him?"

Ed, who still appeared as the charming Edmund looked around the room for Myrtle.

Aria answered his unspoken question, "I banished Myrtle and for helping her, you're banished to from Galatia."

Ed only smiled at her, winked and then bowed stating, "As you wish, my princess." He continued to bow.

_What is he doing,_ Aria thought, _trying to charm his way out of this? _

"Yeah okay, go," Aria commanded.

"Do I have to go where Myrtle went?" Ed asked.

"No," Aria replied. "Just leave the kingdom."

With that, Ed was gone.

"Don't you think you're letting them off too easy?" Vanessa asked.

"Hey, I'm new at this. Besides, what was I suppose to do, kill them?"

"You could have put them in prison."

Aria realized that this was probably the best solution. "Yeah, too bad I didn't think of that. Oh well, as long as Myrtle doesn't have her wand, she's powerless."

"That's true," Vanessa sighed. "At least she won't be happy about that."

With that, the girls hugged each other once more, and then together walked out of the tower in victory.


	18. Chapter 17 Heroes of Galatia

_Chapter 17_

_Heroes of Galatia_

"So you've slain the, rescued me, and defeated the witch," Vanessa reviewed. "Now, we do we go from here?"

"I guess we'll head back to Greg's cottage and see how Derek is doing?" Aria replied even though she had a feeling that's not what Vanessa was talking about.

"That's not what I meant. Are you going to live here from now on?"

This was the very question Aria wanted to avoid. Sure, she use to dream of being a princess when she was a little girl, but now, Aria could not stand the thought of never seeing her family or friends again.

"I'll have to talk to Adora about it," Aria replied.

Understanding her best friend did not want to discuss this any further, Vanessa changed the subject. "Hey, I just thought of something. We know about another dimension."

"Yeah, so…?"

"So, we know something Walter doesn't know!"

"Wow, I never thought that day would come," Aria acknowledged. After all, Walter's the smartest person she had ever known. "Though it's too bad we can't tell him."

"Yeah," Vanessa agreed. "He would think we've both gone insane. Remember, he thought I was nuts for believing in psychics. Speaking of which, I wonder if there are any fortune tellers in this world?"

"Considering there's magic, dragons, and portals between worlds, that wouldn't surprise me."

The girls continued to discuss the wonders of this new world as they headed back to Greg's cottage. When they arrived an anxious Adora came out from inside.

"Aria, do you have any idea how worried I've been!" Adora exclaimed with rage. "What were you thinking, going up against the most dangerous witch in these lands?"

"I won," Aria protested weakly. "This sword Greg made kept Myrtle's magic from harming me."

Adora sighed, "Very well then. I assume you finished Myrtle off for good, right?"

"Actually I just banished her from these lands," Aria replied then held up Myrtle's wand. "But I took her wand so she can't use her magic anymore."

"I'll take that," Adora said as she took the wand from Aria's hand. She then looked at Aria and smiled. "You're very brave, Aria. Probably the bravest princess I have ever met and that wasn't even one of your gifts."

"Thanks," Aria replied and then remembered something. "By the way, how's Derek?"

"He's recovered quite smoothly. Would you like to see him?"

Both girls nodded and then walked into the cottage.

"What happened to Derek?" Vanessa whispered to Aria as they entered the cottage.

Aria answered, "His arm got burned by the dragon."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I hope so."

As Aria and Vanessa walked into the wizard's living room they were relieved to see a conscious, smiling Derek sitting upright on the couch waiting for them.

"So, how did it go?" Derek demanded eagerly. "Did you win?"

"Yes, Myrtle has officially been defeated," Aria answered with a smile. "How's your arm?"

"Good as new," Derek held it up with a grin. "Man, that wizard fellow sure knows what he's doing."

This time Vanessa spoke, "I know. You should have seen the way that sword deflected Myrtle's magic. It was amazing!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I couldn't have defeated her without it," Aria added.

The three fell silent for a moment before Vanessa asked, "So, what now? Are you going to live here from now on?"

This was the question Aria feared most. Sure, it's every little girl's dream to be a princess, but she couldn't just leave everyone in her world.

"I'm not sure," was all Aria could think to say.

"I wouldn't worry about that now," Adora said as she entered the room. "Right now, its time for you to go to the kingdom and meet your parents. I'm sure they are anxious to finally see you. We'll discuss we you will live after the celebration."

"Celebration?" Aria looked at Adora curiously.

"Why of coarse there's a celebration! After all, you just rid the kingdom of Myrtle's evil magic. The people are anxious to greet their hero. Not to mention the return of their long lost princess."

xXx

Aria, Vanessa, Derek, and Adora rode in glory on a chariot through the gates of the main kingdom where King Richard and Queen Gretel awaited anxiously for their daughter's return. As they entered, the crowds of people went wild as their heroes waved to them.

"I kind of feel like we're steeling your glory," Vanessa said to Aria. "After all, you were the one to actually fight and defeat both the dragon and Myrtle."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have been able to do any of that if you and Derek had not come to rescue me from the tower," Aria assured. "We're all heroes. All three of us showed a tremendous amount of courage in this situation."

Aria observed the other three fairies sitting by the king and queen. Based on what Adora told her about them, it was pretty easy to guess who they each were. The one standing up the straightest, properly clapping her hands together was Verna. The blonde one constantly fooling with her hair trying to get the guards' attention was likely Freya, and the one holding the harp with a songbird perched on her shoulder was Thelma. Aria waved and smiled at all three of them and then looked to her birthparents, the king and queen.

King Richard arose, took his wife's hand and together they approached their long lost daughter as she stepped down from the carriage.

"Welcome back, my daughter! Welcome back!" he exclaimed as they embraced.

Aria felt warmth and love from both her parents. Part of her did not want to leave this world, but another part of her knew if she stayed, she would miss Vanessa, her adopted parents who cared for Aria her whole life, and even Derek. Aria decided best wait until after the celebration to discuss this as Adora instructed.

As they entered the palace for the grand feast, Aria introduced her parents to Vanessa and Derek. They all sat around the table as the king prepared a speech.

"For my lovely daughter and her brave knight, Sir Derek. I declared they shall be married in the spring."

Everyone raised their glasses and drank to this, even Aria and Derek at first, but when the king's words hit them, they both choked on their drinks while Vanessa burst out laughing.

"Wait a minute, your highness, I mean Father," Aria coughed. "We can't get married!"

"Well, why not?" Queen Gretel inquired curiously. "He was the one who's kiss woke, was he not? That makes him your true love, right?"

"I don't …" Aria had no idea what to say to this.

Luckily Adora interjected, "Your Majesty, if I may, I must inform you that in the world where your daughter was raised, love works quite differently, much more slowly, actually. Normally, people there date a few years before even considering the idea of marriage. It is quite uncommon for someone of Aria's age to be married."

"How odd," the queen replied. "Very well, then. Aria, its up to you when you want to be married."

"Thank you," Aria breathed more calmly now.

After that, the rest of the feast went by quite smoothly. Aria laughed and talked with both Vanessa and Derek. She had never tasted such well-cooked food in her entire life. Everything about this world was absolutely perfect. She could easily see how people could live happily ever after here, but the question remains now, could she? Aria decided best to enjoy the moment for what it is now and worry about her future another day.


	19. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

"Aria!" Elizabeth called as the doorbell rang. "Vanessa's here. Are you ready?"

"Almost," Aria answered. "Could you send her up here, please?"

Tonight, the girls were going to Sheerwood High's Halloween dance. It was agreed that Aria would remain in this world to finish high school and visit Galatia during the holidays. After that, she will move to the kingdom to begin her training to rule and visit her friends and family in Norfolk on occasion. It seemed like the best solution for her situation.

Vanessa entered Aria's bedroom and asked, "So, what do you think of my fairy costume?"

"You look adorable!" Aria answered.

Vanessa's face fell when she saw what Aria decided to be. "Really, Aria, you're going to be the witch?"

"Technically, I'm an evil fairy. Besides, I'm saving my princess dress for the Homecoming dance. That will save me some money."

"I can't believe you stole Myrtle's choker."

Aria put her fingers upon the tiny black stone she wore around her neck. "I'm not stealing, I'm just borrowing. It's not as if she'll be back for it any time soon."

Vanessa just rolled her eyes and said, "Well, we better get moving. We don't want to be too late."

"I'm ready."

When the girls arrived to the school's gym, they observed what their classmates decided to be.

"I bet Kendal thinks she's so cool in her Lady Gaga costume," Vanessa commented.

"I wonder if she realizes she's probably one of six million girls wearing that same thing," Aria added.

"Well, well," Kendal said as she approached them, "What are you suppose to be, some sort of freak gothic queen?"

"Actually, I thought I'd go as Kendal Lewis," Aria retorted. "What do you think, did I get the hair right?"

Kendal just rolled her eyes and walked away.

"See, Aria. I told you. All you have to do is stand up to her and she'll leave you alone," Vanessa stated.

"For some reason, before now, that always seemed much harder."

It was strange, really. Aside from Vanessa and Derek, no one knew that Aria was really a princess, but Aria still felt more confident around her classmates. Maybe it's because now she is sure exactly who she is and it doesn't matter to Aria what her fellow students thought of her anymore.

"Hello, Aria, Vanessa," Walter said as he walked up to them. "Nice costumes!"

"Thank, you too!" Aria admired his James Bond look.

"Yeah, you actually look cool!" Vanessa added.

"You sound so surprised," Walter said to her.

"Can you blame me?"

"Hey, have any of you seen Derek?" Aria interjected.

"I think he's over there," Walter answered as he pointed across the gym.

Aria smiled as she approached him, admiring his Prince Charming costume.

"Well, I though I would be meeting my princess here, not the evil witch," Derek said as he saw her costume.

"You'll just have to wait until the homecoming dance for that," Aria replied. "Besides, I thought for Halloween you were suppose to dress up as something you're not."

Derek considered. "Well, that's true. Well, my evil witch, will you dance with me?"

Aria nodded and she took Derek's hand and the two began to dance. Aria still could not believe this was actually happening. She would have never predicted this at the beginning of the school year. So much has happened since, and only within a couple months.

When the dance was over Ian announced. "Alright, party at Kendal's. Everyone's invited!"

Angrily, Kendal grabbed his arm and shook her head. "No, Ian, not everyone," she said, looking at Aria specifically.

Unlike before, Aria could care less about being invited to one of Kendal's parties. The only thing that mattered was being with the people she truly cared about.

"Hey guys," Aria said to Vanessa and Walter. "How about we go back to my house and have own celebration?"

"Sounds great!" Vanessa exclaimed while Walter nodded with enthusiasm.

"Hey, do you think you have room for one more?" Derek asked.

Vanessa answered, "I don't know, Derek, we're a pretty exclusive group."

Derek's face fell while Aria laughed, "She's kidding, Derek. Of coarse you can come!"

That night became the best night of Aria's life. She realized that it did not matter whether or not she was popular in high school or even having a boyfriend. The most important thing to Aria was being around the people she cared about and who cared about her in return. She honestly didn't know what would happen between her and Derek in the future romantically. Aria did, however, know for sure, that Vanessa, Walter, and now Derek, would always be her friends forever and always. To Aria, that fact is what made her know that she will live happily ever after.


End file.
